Record 12,000 candidates in fray
Almost 12,000 candidates have registered for Iran\'s February parliamentary election, state television said on Saturday, breaking participation records at a time of political uncertainty in the Islamic Republic.
Dubai: Almost 12,000 candidates have registered for Iran's February parliamentary election, state television said on Saturday, breaking participation records at a time of political uncertainty in the Islamic Republic.
President Hassan Rouhani, a centrist who won election by a landslide in 2013 and championed Iran's July nuclear deal with world powers, is hoping his supporters can take control of the 290-seat assembly and end years of dominance by conservative factions.
A supportive legislature could give Rouhani a stronger mandate to push through domestic reforms to increase social and political liberties - an area where his efforts have so far been checked by the judiciary and security forces.
But hardliners have warned of potential "sedition" at the polls, a word used to describe reformist protests following disputed presidential elections in 2009 that touched off a wave of repression and arrests.
Rouhani and his powerful ally, Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, are hoping to win a majority by cashing in on the popularity they gained from the deal to restrain Iran's nuclear programme in exchange for a lifting of sanctions crippling the economy.
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