Parliamentary elections were held in Iran on 8 March 1996, with a second round on 19 April.[2] The Combatant Clergy Association and its allies emerged as the largest bloc in the Majlis, winning 110 of the 270 seats.[2]
Electoral system
The constitution approved in a December 1979 referendum provided for a 270-seat Majlis, with five seats reserved for minority groups including Jews, Zorastrians, Armenians from the north and south of the country and one jointly elected by Assyrians and Chaldeans.[3]
The elections were conducted using a two-round system, with the number of candidates progressing to the second round being double the number of seats available. Candidates required an absolute majority to win a seat in the first round, and plurality to win in the second round.[3] However, in this election, minimum percentages for candidates to be elected in first round was lowered to 33.33% (one-third of votes).
Campaign
A total of 3,726 candidates contested the elections, including around 326 women.[3] 145 seats were won in the first round of voting.[4]
Main groups contesting in the elections were:[5]
- Combatant Clergy Association and Islamic Aligned Organizations ('traditional' right-wing)
- Executives of Construction Party ('modern' right-wing)
- Association for Defence of Revolution Values ('neocon' right-wing)
- Association of Combatant Clerics ('traditional' left-wing)
- Coalition of Imam's Line groups ('radical' left-wing)
15 Freedom Movement members presented themselves as candidates and only 4 of them made it through initial vetting, 3 of whom were excluded before polling day. The organization announced its intention to withdraw from the election. The election was boycotted by the National Front and Nation Party.[6]
Results
Both conservatives and reformers claimed a 70 percent majority after the first round and also claimed independents as supporters.[7]
- Salam newspaper
According to Salam, Executives of Construction and Imam's Line Groups won shared 120 parliamentary seats.[8]
- Adelkhah (1999)
| Faction | Seats | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Right | 90 to 100 | ||
| Executives of Construction | 70 to 80 | ||
| Left | about 40 | ||
| Source: Adelkhah[9] | |||
- Nohlen et al (2001)
- In the following table, the Independents are counted as "allies".
| Party | Seats | +/– | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Combatant Clergy Association and allies | 110 | –40 | ||
| Combatant Clerics of Tehran and allies | 80 | +80 | ||
| Executives of Construction Party and allies | 80 | New | ||
| Total | 270 | 0 | ||
| Source: Nohlen et al.[2] | ||||
- Kazemzadeh (2008)
| Faction | Seats | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Right-wing hardliners | 150 | ||
| Rafsanjani and Executives of Construction | 15–60 | ||
| Left-wing coalition of Imam's Line | 30 | ||
| Independents | 30 | ||
| Total | 270 | ||
| Source: Kazemzadeh[10] | |||
Aftermath
The newly elected members of Majlis met for the first time on 1 June.[4] Ali Akbar Nateq-Nouri remained in Speaker position until 2000 after he received 11 more votes than Abdullah Nouri (also a cleric).
References
- ^ a b "1996 Parliamentary Election", The Iran Social Science Data Portal, Princeton University, archived from the original on 2012-05-30, retrieved 10 August 2015
- ^ a b c Nohlen, Dieter; Grotz, Florian; Hartmann, Christof (2001). "Iran". Elections in Asia: A Data Handbook. Vol. I. Oxford University Press. pp. 68, 74. ISBN 978-0-19-924958-9.
- ^ a b c Iran IPU
- ^ a b Elections held in 1996 IPU
- ^ Beheshti, Ebrahim (4 January 2016) [14 Dey 1394]. "گزارش "ایران" از صفآرایی گروههای سیاسی در ۹ دوره انتخابات مجلس". Iran (in Persian). No. 6116. 109221. Retrieved 30 March 2016.
- ^ "IRAN", Human Rights Watch World Report 1997: Events of 1996, Human Rights Watch, 1996, p. 282, ISBN 9781564322074
- ^ Guy Engelman (2 February 2000), "A Background to Iran's Forthcoming Majlis Elections", The Washington Institute for Near East Policy (PolicyWatch), no. 436, retrieved 29 August 2017
- ^ Canada: Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada, Iran: The National Kargozaran-Sazandegi Party; political view, its leaders, branches, and participation in any election in Iran (1998), 19 February 2002, IRN38586.E, available at: http://www.refworld.org/docid/3df4be498.html [accessed 10 June 2016]
- ^ Fariba Adelkhah (1999), Being Modern in Iran, CERI series in comparative politics and international studies, C. Hurst & Co. Publishers, p. 85
- ^ Masoud Kazemzadeh (2008), "Intra-Elite Factionalism and the 2004 Majles Elections in Iran", Middle Eastern Studies, 44 (2): 189–214, doi:10.1080/00263200701874867 – via Taylor and Francis Online (subscription required)
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