Parliamentary elections conclude in Iran

Tehran, May 1: Iran's interior ministry has announced the conclusion of parliamentary elections following two rounds of contests among the qualified candidates.

The second round of elections held in 21 of the 31 provinces in the country on Friday, in which the fate of remaining 68 vacant seats and the composition for new parliament, or Majlis, was completed, the ministry said on Saturday, Xinhua news agency reported.

Of at least 12,000 registered hopefuls, 6,229 qualified candidates competed for 290 seats in the Majlis, namely, some 21 people competed for each seat in the parliamentary election.

According to local media, the reformists and moderates gained ground in the 10th Majlis elections, but none of the heavyweight political groups have been able to seize the majority.

Of the 290 seats of the Majlis, 114 will be filled by the reformists and 12 by their moderate allies. The principlists, who are also referred to as conservatives, will occupy 107 seats, Tasnim news agency reported on Saturday.

Independent candidates and religious minorities comprise 52 and five seats of the parliament respectively, according to report.

Also, Iranian Student News Agency (ISNA) drew the balance of power in the new Majlis in favor of reformists with 120 lawmakers, while principlists won 83 seats. According to this report, independents gained 81 seats and religious minorities five.

IANS