Parliamentary elections were held on Friday (March 1) amid economic woes and political and social instability. Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the supreme leader of the country, called on the country’s voters to come to the polling stations in groups and actively participate in the elections. The election is seen as a test of the government’s legitimacy amid growing frustration in the country over restrictions on freedoms. British news agency Reuters reported this news.
Ayatollah Khamenei called voting a religious duty. He was the first to vote in Iran.
Khamenei said on state television, ‘Vote as soon as possible… Today Iran’s friends and ill-wishers have their eyes on the results. Delight friends and disappoint enemies.’
This is the first parliamentary election held in the country since anti-government protests in 2022. In 2022, Iran experienced its worst political turmoil since the 1979 Islamic Revolution. 2022 A young woman died in police custody in the country for wearing an ‘inappropriate’ hijab. This led to widespread unrest in the country which turned into anti-government protests.
Analysts see the election as an important test of legitimacy and national support for Iran’s leadership after anti-government protests in 2022-23.
A record vote is needed to legitimize the incumbent as Iran’s ruler. However, during this period of unrest, voter apathy towards elections is high.
According to official surveys, 41 percent of voters will participate in this year’s parliamentary elections. If this estimate is correct, this election will record the lowest turnout among the last 12 elections. Earlier, the voter turnout in the 2022 parliamentary elections was a record low of 42.5 percent. Which in 2016 was about 62 percent.
In this election, the number of registered voters in the country was more than 6 crore 12 lakh. And about 15 thousand candidates competed for 290 seats in the Parliament. Of these, five were seats reserved for the country’s religious minorities.
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