General election in Iran 2012

Result by province

mostly for conservatives

mostly for reformers / moderates

Election poster for the 2012 election

The 2012 parliamentary elections in Iran took place on March 2, 2012. 48.2 million Iranians were called to vote.

Applicants for the 290 seats in the Iranian parliament could register as candidates between December 24 and 30, 2011. A total of 5,300 applicants had registered, including 390 women. The list of eligible candidates was announced by the Guardian Council .

prehistory

Following allegations of fraud in the Iranian presidential election in 2009 , observers expected a low turnout. The level of voter participation is a yardstick for the acceptance of the Islamic state order in the population. With reference to the opposition leaders Zahra Rahnaward , Mir Hossein Mousawi and Mehdi Karroubi , who have since been under house arrest, the Iranian Nobel Peace Prize winner Shirin Ebadi , who lives in Great Britain, called on all Iranians to boycott the elections at the end of January 2012. In December 2011, the former President Mohammad Chātami asked the reformers not to even register as candidates. Participation in the elections makes no sense as long as the political prisoners are not released. However, Mohammad Chātami took part in the vote itself. Given the emerging non-participation of reformers, it was expected that the elections would become a clash between supporters and opponents of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad within the conservative camp. The reformers' boycott was not closed; two smaller parties, "People's Rule" and "House of Labor" with their own candidates, took part.

On February 10, a spokesman for the Guardian Council announced that more than 3,000 candidates were "eligible." Six clerics and six lawyers who are believed to be supporters of President Ahmadinejad were also excluded . The British Guardian reported on government blockades of websites that are leaning towards Ahmadinejad. This approach is seen as a power-political assault by Ali Khamene'i . Ahmadinejad is accused of trying to undermine clerical power and the primacy of the legal scholar with his strong emphasis on nationalist policy content, which appeals to many Iranians .

On February 18, 2012, it was reported that the Iranian police were stepping up against illegal satellite TV reception equipment in the run-up to the parliamentary elections . The aim of the police operation is to prevent the Iranians from watching programs broadcast by foreign television stations in Persian before the election .

Approved groups

Membership in a party or affiliation to a political group is in principle not compulsory for MPs. There is a special regulation especially for the Armenian, Chaldean / Assyrian, Jewish and Zoroastrian minorities. The participation front of Islamic Iran , the Islamic coalition party and the front of the Islamic resistance were not permitted .

A total of eight groups were approved by the Guardian Council:

1. United Front of Principalists ( Dschebheje mottahede ossulgerajan , also Jebheh Mottahed-e Osoolgarayan for short JMO ), under Ayatollah Mohammed Reza Mahdavi-Kani , the chairman of the Expert Council , supports the revolutionary leader Ali Khamene'i
2. Front of the continuance of the revolution ( Dschebheje pajdarije enqelab , also Jebheh Paaydaari-e Enghlelab-e Eslami for short JPEE ), under Ayatollah Mohammad-Taqi Mesbah-Yazdi
3. Front of Perseverance ( Jebheje istadegi , also Jebheh Eistaadegi Enghelab-e Eslami for short JEEE ), under Mohsen Resa'i , former commander-in-chief of the Pasdaran and now secretary of the Council for Safeguarding the Interests of the System
4. Voice of the People ( Sedaje Mellat , also Jebheh Sedaa-ye Mellat for short JSM ) of MP Ali Motahhari , son of the late Ayatollah Morteza Motahhari
5. Discipline and Vigilance Front ( Jebheje bassirat wa bidari ) of MP Shahahab od-Din Sadr , a split from the Islamic Coalition Party (Motalefeh)
6. Front of the Defenders of the Rule of the Legal Scholar ( Dschebheje hamijane welajat ), newly established, supports the religious leader Ali Khamenei
7. Front of the Defenders of the Government ( Dschebheje hamijane doulat ), newly established, supports the previous President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad
8. Front of Unification and Justice ( Dschebheje touhid wa edalat )

It is not clear what positions these “groups and associations” represent. Some candidates are on multiple lists.

Results

On election day, the opening hours of the polling stations, which were scheduled to close at 6:00 pm local time, were extended by five hours. In addition, more ballot papers were requested from the constituencies. The turnout is said to have been 64.6% at 9:00 p.m. local time; According to the state news agency, 31 million ballots have been cast to date. Analysts previously assumed a voter turnout of between 15 and 17% in Tehran , and higher in rural areas. The final turnout was given as around 64%. It was highest in the province of Kohkilouyeh-Boyer Ahmad with 89%, in Tehran it was 48%.

The election supervisor Seyyed Solat Mortazavi caused irritation. In a live TV interview he gave the voter turnout at 34%, then he corrected himself and gave the figure of 64.4%. In the first round, 225 seats were awarded, the runoff elections are to be held one month after the Guardian Council has confirmed the results of the first round.

Former President Mohammad Chātami , who took part in the vote despite a call for an election boycott , received criticism from the reformist camp . In a statement to his critics, Mohammad Chātami said that the strategy of not drawing up one's own candidates and electoral lists never meant a boycott of the elections. Chātami justified his turnout as an "attempt to negotiate with the political establishment to keep open".

The second round of parliamentary elections took place on May 4, 2012. 65 seats were still available, of which the two most important conservative alliances secured 44 seats. In the 9th Iranian Parliament, the “United Front of Principalists”, who are counted among the critics of President Ahmadinejad, with 65 seats, and the “Front of the Continuing Revolution”, which is close to Ahmadinejad, with 25 seats, are the largest conservatives Groups totaling 90 members. 61 parliamentarians are said to belong to both alliances, 15 smaller conservative alliances. The reformers received two more seats and are represented in the new parliament with 21 seats (in the previous parliament with 60 seats). The religious minorities have a total of 14 MPs - an increase of 9 seats. The largest group is made up of independent candidates. It is to be expected that further political groups will be established in the new parliament. Of a total of 290 members, 196 are represented in parliament for the first time. Nine women belong to the new parliament, in the previous parliament there were eight women. The opening session of the new parliament took place on May 27th. Ali Larijani was again elected head of parliament.

camp		be right	proportion of	Political party	Seats	proportion of
	conservative	19,087,397	59.7%	United Front of Principalists	98	34.8%
				Front of the continuation of the revolution	43	14.8%
				Voice of the people	19th	6.5%
				Front of Union and Justice	17th	5.8%
				Front of discernment and vigilance	5	1.7%
	reformer	11,451,367	35.5%	Democratic coalition of reformers	60	20.6%
				Working coalition	11	3.7%
				Moderate reformers	4th	1.3%
	Minorities	634.122	2.1%	Armenians	5	1.7%
				Assyrians and Chaldeans	4th	1.3%
				Jews	3	1.1%
				Zoroastrians	2	0.6%
Source: moi.ir/Portal/Home/

	be right	Percentage ownership %
Eligible voters	48.288.799	100
Voters	30.905.605	64.0
registered candidates	5,405	100
admitted candidates	3,232	61.4
elected male candidates	281	96.9
elected female candidates	9	3.1

criticism

Martin Schulz , President of the European Parliament , criticized the Iranian general elections, which “fall short of all democratic standards”, merely as “a way of measuring internal power struggles within the regime.” British Foreign Secretary William Hague described the election as “neither free nor fair . ”The election was also criticized within Iran. In the town of Garmsar, for example, there are reports of buying votes, which the president's sister, Parwin Ahmadinejad, was also affected by and protested against.

See also

• History of Iran since 1979
• List of political parties in Iran

Web links

• Iran's journalists under pressure: imprisonment or exile. In: Qantara.de. February 2, 2012, accessed March 1, 2012 . 
• Ahmadinejad under pressure. General election in Iran. In: The Standard . March 1, 2012, accessed March 1, 2012 . 
• Dr. Hossein Pur Khassalian: Exclusive report: Who falsifies the parliamentary elections in Iran. In: irananders. April 18, 2012, accessed on March 26, 2013 (on-site report by an election observer from Germany). 
• Henner Fürtig : More than just routine. Iran elects a new parliament. GIGA Focus, No. 3/2012.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b} Parliamentary election: Ahmadinejad's sister is running for election in Iran in the Handelsblatt on December 30, 2011
2. ↑ ^{a b} boell.de ( Memento of the original dated May 2, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (PDF; 398 kB) Iran Report 03/2012 (accessed on March 4, 2012) 
3. ↑ ^{a b} boell.de ( Memento of the original from February 3, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (PDF; 114 kB) Iran Report 01/2012 (accessed on January 30, 2012) 
4. ^ Election Fears and Economic Woes Pose New Challenges for Iran's Leaders in: New York Times on January 2, 2012
5. ^ Ebadi Calls for a Campaign to Release Opposition Leaders International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran on January 26, 2011
6. ↑ Iran: Elections without reformers in Spiegel of December 23, 2011
7. ↑ Iran: Choice of fate for Ahmadinejad in the Spiegel from January 9, 2012
8. ↑ Iran after the parliamentary elections in 2012: normalization according to Chamenei's taste Walter Posch, Science and Politics Foundation on March 16, 2012
9. ^ Iran political parties prepare for parliamentary elections Press TV on February 10, 2012.
10. ^ Parisa Hafezi: Ahmadinejad seen big loser in Iran election on TheCitizen on February 18, 2012.
11. ↑ Saeed Kamali Dehghan: Iran's censors wage web war against Ahmadinejad as elections loom in the Guardian on February 16, 2012.
12. ↑ Parliamentary elections in Iran: Police steal satellite dishes from n-tv on February 18, 2012.
13. ↑ Ali Shirazi , February 13, 2012: Iran: Elections are coming soon
14. ↑ presstv.ir Over 31mn ballots used; voter turnout at 64.4%: Election officials (accessed March 2, 2012)
15. ↑ Muhammad Sahimi: pbs.org of February 28, 2012 Iran's Parliamentary Elections (accessed March 6, 2012)
16. ↑ Archived copy ( Memento of the original from March 6, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Fars news, Final Results of Iran's Parliamentary Elections Announced, March 5, 2012 (accessed March 11, 2012) 
17. ↑ presstv.ir In Iran, 225 hopefuls win Majlis seats in first round of vote, March 5, 2012 (accessed March 11, 2012)
18. ↑ spiegel.de of March 4, 2012 Inconsistencies in the Iran election: In the province of Ilam, the dead also vote (accessed on March 6, 2012)
19. ↑ www.pbs.org of March 4, 2012 Election Chief Slips? States Turnout Near '34 Percent '(accessed March 8, 2012)
20. ↑ tehrantimes.com of March 5, 2012 225 candidates elected to enter parliament (accessed March 6, 2012)
21. ↑ presstv.ir In Iran, 225 hopefuls win Majlis seats in first round of vote, press tv March 5, 2012
22. ↑ nzz.ch of March 5, 2012 Parliamentary election in Iran divides reform movement (accessed on March 6, 2012)
23. ↑ khatami.ir ( Memento of the original from March 8, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Full text in German translation, unauthorized: [1] (accessed March 11, 2012) 
24. ↑ Julia's blog from March 7, 2012 MP Ali Motahari praises Khatami's vote (accessed March 11, 2012)
25. ↑ ^{a b} [2]  ( Page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (PDF; 279 kB) Heinrich Böll Foundation, Iran Report 06/12  
26. ^ [3] Majlis Research and Education Committee member: New Factions to be formed in 9th Majlis, IRNA
27. ^ [4] Names of 288 elected Majlis members, Fars News
28. ↑ Iran's 9th Majlis opens ( Memento from May 30, 2012 in the Internet Archive )
29. ↑ [5] Larijani becomes head of parliament again, IRIB June 6, 2012
30. ↑ by the Guardian Council
31. ↑ 428 women registered to vote
32. ↑ princeton.edu ( Memento of the original from November 12, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 2012 Parliamentary Elections , accessed March 5, 2013 
33. ↑ martin-schulz.info ( Memento of the original from January 3, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Schulz - Statement on the elections in Iran (accessed on March 3, 2012) 
34. ↑ reuters.com of March 2, 2012 Iranian elections not free and fair, Britain says (accessed March 5, 2012)
35. ↑ alischirasi.blogsport.de Garmsar: voter turnout increased with purchase of votes (accessed on March 10, 2012)