Record Presence of Women in the Islamic Consultative Assembly Broken

As the vote counting in many electoral districts has concluded, unofficial reports indicate the lead of reformists and independents. Additionally, with the victory of four women in the second round, the number of women in the 10th Parliament has reached 17, setting a new record in the history of the Parliament since the revolution. On Friday, April 29, the second round of the Islamic Consultative Assembly elections was held in 55 electoral districts to determine the fate of the remaining 68 seats of the 10th Parliament. Meanwhile, Tasnim has claimed that in the second round, 35 reformists and candidates close to the government, 25 principlists, and eight independents have managed to enter the 10th Parliament. Reports indicate that with the victories of Khadijeh Rabiei from the Boroujen electoral district, Somayeh Mahmoudi from the Shahreza and Dehaghan electoral district, Masoumeh Aghapour from the Shabestar electoral district, and Zahra Saei from the Tabriz, Azarshahr, and Eskandari electoral district in the second round of the parliamentary elections, the number of women in the 10th Parliament has reached 17, which is unprecedented in the history of the Islamic Consultative Assembly since 1979. In the first round of the Islamic Consultative Assembly elections held on February 26, 14 women were elected to the Parliament. However, due to the Guardian Council invalidating the votes of Minou Khalighi, the elected representative from Isfahan, the number of elected women was reduced to 13. The 5th Parliament, with the presence of 14 women, held the record for the number of female representatives in the previous nine terms. Despite the Guardian Council confirming the elections in this district, it invalidated the votes of Minou Khalighi, the third elected representative from Isfahan, and believes that the fate of the remaining Isfahan seat should be determined in the mid-term elections of 2017. The Ministry of Interior, however, states that it has a legal disagreement with the Guardian Council regarding Ms. Khalighi, and even if the Guardian Council insists on invalidating Ms. Khalighi's votes, the sixth person on the list of elected representatives, who also received the required 25% of the votes, should be allowed to enter the Parliament. Meanwhile, Ali Motahari, the second elected representative from Tehran in the 10th Parliament, has requested in a letter to Hassan Rouhani to instruct the Ministry of Interior to issue and send Ms. Khalighi's credentials to the Parliament.