Polling stations in Iran were open for longer, but that didn't help: never before have so few people participated in elections in the Islamic Republic as this time. This is a serious defeat for the regime.
Iranian Interior Minister Ahmad Wahidi confirmed a historically low turnout in last Friday's elections. A total of about 25 of the 61 million eligible voters turned out to vote, Wahidi told reporters. The minister confirmed pro-government media reports from the weekend that voter turnout was around 41 percent. The number of invalid votes was almost eight percent. The numbers cannot be independently verified.
Journalists and foreign observers speak of an electoral spectacle. Opposition members in exile called for a boycott. In addition to the composition of the parliament, the vote also decided on the new members of the so-called Council of Experts, which decides on his successor in the event of the death or resignation of the spiritual leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, aged 84.
Low voter turnout is a defeat for the government
These were the first elections after the women-led protests in the fall of 2022. Many people are disillusioned after the failed reform attempts of recent decades. Apparently, they stayed away from the vote in protest. In 2020, turnout in parliamentary elections was 42.6 percent.
Low voter turnout is a serious setback for the government in Tehran. She relied on a high number of voters – as proof of her own legitimacy. Religious leader Khamenei himself declared that voting was a religious duty. Polling stations were also open several hours longer than planned – apparently without the effect the government expected.
The hard line is apparently gaining ground
290 seats in parliament were up for grabs. More than 245 of them were decided in the first round, according to Mohsen Eslami, spokesman for the Ministry of the Interior. The remaining 45 seats are expected to be decided in the second round of elections in April or May. This applied to cases where the first-place candidates did not obtain at least 20 percent of the vote.
According to an analysis by the AP news agency, of the 245 elected representatives, 200 were supported by hard-line groups. 45 of the election winners were considered comparatively moderate, conservative or independent.
The current parliament includes 18 reformist politicians and 38 others who are considered independent. Only eleven women won a seat in parliament. There are currently 16 women working as deputies there. Authorities largely banned politicians calling for change within the country's theocracy from participating in elections.
Karin Senz, ARD Istanbul, currently Tehran, tagesschau, March 2, 2024 5:26 pm