Iranians Go To The Polls- The First Parliamentary Elections Since The Nuke Deal
After votes were cast Friday, Iran started the process of counting of tens of millions of ballots on Saturday. Almost 55 million citizens of the country's 80-million population were eligible to vote in back-to-back elections for the national parliament and the Assembly of Experts responsible for electing the next Supreme Leader of the theocratic state.
The highly contested elections pit reformists who prefer gradual opening to world and normal relations with the West against the hardliners who have been dominating Iran's political landscape with their anti-Western ideological narrative as stated in a Reuters report.
The elections are the first since Tehran's landmark nuclear agreement with the West which gradually lifted sanctions in exchange for Iran quitting its nuclear weapons program. The sanctions have long stifled the economy for more than a decade. Voter turnout was quite high which forced polling stations to extend voting time for nearly 6 hours. Also, 60% of the country's voters are under 30 years old.
"Whoever likes Iran and its dignity, greatness and glory should vote," remarked Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, a hardliner who neutralizes any deemed excesses of the reformists in the government as quoted by BBC News.
Already, many pro-reform figures have been sidelined but some people hope that reforms will find its way through the parliament in a country struggling with high bad bank debt, increasing jobless rate, and the need for subsidy reforms.
"[The election] will either reinforce or atrophy the momentum that Rouhani has from the nuclear deal. That momentum could affect the tectonic plates of the Iranian political system over the medium term," observed Eurasia Group Chairman Cliff Kupchan as mentioned in a Washington Post report.
