TEHRAN, Dec 2 (NNN-IRNA) – Iran, on Sunday, began registration of candidates for the upcoming legislative elections, amid mounting pressures from the United States, on the country’s vital economic sectors.
The 11th round of parliamentary elections is slated for Feb 21, 2020, four years after the previous one in 2016.
The registration of candidates on Sunday began in the Iranian Interior Ministry, in the capital Tehran, provincial governorates across the country, as well as, Iran’s embassies, consulates and missions abroad.
Parliamentary hopefuls could get their names registered for the race by Dec 7.
Iran’s Guardian Council of Constitution, the vetting body for elections, will verify the credentials of the registered people for the election race.
Abbas Ali Kadkhodaee, spokesman for the council, suggested that, his institution could be less strict on the evaluation of the qualification of candidates.
Iran’s parliament, or the Majlis, is made up of 290 members.
As with past elections, the hotbed of competition over the parliament seats will be divided between conservatives and reformists.
According to local reports, the reformists currently occupy 41 percent of parliament, while the conservatives are in possession of 29 percent of the seats. The rest belongs to independents and minorities.
In the past two years, Iranians experienced high rate of inflation, unemployment and recession of the economy, partially, because of the sanction pressures by the United States.– NNN-IRNA