Iranians cast their ballots to elect new members of parliament and a council of clerics in elections seen as a referendum on President Hassan Rouhani’s rule. An estimated 50 million people are eligible to vote on a pre-selected list of candidates during the polls on Friday. The elections take place just a month after years of economic sanctions against the country were lifted.
Surveys indicated a higher turnout compared to the previous parliamentary polls four years ago, but lower than the presidential contest that elected Rouhani in 2013. Voting started at 8am local time (04:30 GMT). Rouhani said he had reports of a high turnout, the official IRNA news agency reported. “Election is a symbol of the political independence of a country. By voting people decide the future of their country,” Rouhani was quoted as saying after casting his vote.
The parliament, also known as the Majlis, has 290 members who are responsible for passing legislation in the country, approving the annual budget and international agreements, including the recent nuclear deal with the West.
Al Jazeera’s Andrew Simmons, reporting from a packed polling station in Tehran, described the vote as a litmus test for Rouhani’s signature move – the nuclear deal with the West and the subsequent lifting of economic sanctions that had strangled its economy. “This whole business right now is colossal for Iran. This about the influence of Rouhani and his more moderate policies – reformist policies that he wants to bring through against the conservatives,” Simmons said.
