Elections gains unlikely to shift Iran power balance fast
Source: Reuters
Impressive gains by Iranian President Hassan Rouhani in heavily handicapped elections to parliament and a clerical body are evidence of an isolated nation eager to move from theocracy to a more open democracy, but few expect a sudden shift in power.
The Islamic Republic’s unique dual system of clerical and republican rule places decisive power in the hands of a conservative Islamic establishment, which has shown in the past its ability to reassert control when it feels threatened.
Rouhani may have a stronger hand to open up an economy ravaged by a decade of sanctions, but his scope to permit more social and political freedom is constrained by hardliners' control of the judiciary, security forces and state media.
The scale of gains by Rouhani's supporters was undoubtedly a setback for hawks opposed to any opening to the West. Prominent critics of Iran's nuclear deal with world powers were defeated.
Centrists and reformers not only bounced back in a parliament under hardline control since 2004, but won a stunning 15 out of the 16 Tehran seats in the 88-member Assembly of Experts, which selects Iran's supreme leader. Two key hardliners including the speaker of the powerful clerical body were ousted.
Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-iran-election-power-insight-idUSKCN0W34SI
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