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Iran elections: gains for Rouhani could help promote greater opening to the west
Source: The Guardian and agencies
Iran elections: gains for Rouhani could help promote greater opening to the west
Reports in two semi-official news agencies, Fars and Mehr, indicate hardliners
are main losers in vote
Ian Black and agencies in Tehran
Saturday 27 February 2016 15.54 GMT
Early results in Iran’s hard-fought elections are showing strong gains for supporters of President Hassan Rouhani that could help promote greater opening to the west and limited political advances at home – and secure him a second term in office.
Friday’s polls for the parliament and the assembly of experts – its role is to choose the Islamic republic’s clerical supreme leader – were extended by nearly six hours due to a high turnout that was seen as likely to favour the reformist-moderate camp.
In one highly significant result, the former president, Ayatollah Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani – a key Rouhani ally – was leading the race for membership of the assembly in Tehran, the official IRNA news agency reported on Saturday.
The interior ministry said it had counted 33 million of 55 million votes by Saturday afternoon, though a final national tally is still unlikely to be known before Monday. The preliminary turnout figure was 6o%, it said, less than the 70% that had been predicted.
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Reports in two semi-official news agencies, Fars and Mehr, indicate hardliners
are main losers in vote
Ian Black and agencies in Tehran
Saturday 27 February 2016 15.54 GMT
Early results in Iran’s hard-fought elections are showing strong gains for supporters of President Hassan Rouhani that could help promote greater opening to the west and limited political advances at home – and secure him a second term in office.
Friday’s polls for the parliament and the assembly of experts – its role is to choose the Islamic republic’s clerical supreme leader – were extended by nearly six hours due to a high turnout that was seen as likely to favour the reformist-moderate camp.
In one highly significant result, the former president, Ayatollah Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani – a key Rouhani ally – was leading the race for membership of the assembly in Tehran, the official IRNA news agency reported on Saturday.
The interior ministry said it had counted 33 million of 55 million votes by Saturday afternoon, though a final national tally is still unlikely to be known before Monday. The preliminary turnout figure was 6o%, it said, less than the 70% that had been predicted.
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Read more: http://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/feb/27/reformists-and-moderates-lead-race-in-early-election-results
