The Second Round of Parliamentary Elections to Be Held on May 10

Ali Pourali Motlaq, the Secretary of the Election Headquarters, announced that with the approval of the Guardian Council, the second round of the 10th Majlis (Parliament) elections will be held on May 10, 2016. Mr. Pourali Motlaq provided this news to IRNA on Tuesday, March 14, stating that the second round of elections will take place in 56 electoral districts. In this round, 138 candidates will compete for 69 parliamentary seats. In the first round of the 10th Majlis elections, held on March 5, reformists and independent forces achieved significant victories against conservatives. However, since no group managed to secure a majority of the parliamentary seats, the composition of the winners in the second round could be significant. Mohammad Reza Aref, the head of the reformist electoral list, stated last week that this group aims to secure at least 40 of the remaining 69 seats in the second round of elections. Moderate and reformist forces hope that by gaining a majority in the parliament, they can pressure Hassan Rouhani to realize some of the cultural and social freedoms promised during his presidential campaign. According to Nasim Online, Pourali Motlaq also mentioned that complaints arose in 207 electoral districts during the first round of the 10th Majlis elections, leading to the recount of several ballot boxes. He also referred to some deficiencies in the election law and reported that the Ministry of Interior is working to amend this law. The Secretary of the Election Headquarters added that 'the Ministry of Interior has been taking steps to reform the election law for about two years and has drafted and submitted a comprehensive election law bill to the government.' According to this official, 'the Ministry of Interior has also drafted a bill for the transparency of financial sources and election expenses of candidates, which has been submitted to the parliament by the government.' Officials in Hassan Rouhani's government have repeatedly warned about the entry of 'dirty money' into the electoral arena and have called for the identification and confrontation of those carrying this money. However, these officials have never named any individual or group that, according to them, is trying to introduce 'dirty money' into politics.