Reformists win in second round of Iran legislative polls

TEHRAN, April 30: Reformist and moderate candidates backing President Hassan Rouhani came out victorious in the second round of legislative elections, winning at least 37 of the 68 seats at stake.

According to the first results announced on Saturday, still provisiol in some constituencies, the conservative “principlists” would have obtained 22 seats, while the rest went to independent lawmakers in the elections held on Friday. A provisiol recount published by Iranian news agency Tasnim indicated that with these results, the Islamic Legislative Assembly, or Majlis, will filly be composed of some 155 “principlist” or independent lawmakers, besides 134 reformists. The figure, in any case, spells success for the reformists considering their declaration in the first electoral round in February - when they registered a resounding victory in Tehran, the country’s largest constituency - that their aim was only to prevent the principlists from getting an absolute majority. With the latest results, none of the sectors in Iranian politics will be able to impose their own legislative will and will have to necessarily seek allies in other parties. Moreover, any major legislations requiring the approval of at least two-thirds of the house members, will be a matter of consensus. The previous parliament only had nine reformist lawmakers. (ians)