Iran elects a moderate Parliament

[rightwinger]

Could be good news in eventual permanent nuclear disarmament

Reports: Moderates gain control of Iran parliament

Candidates backing Iranian President Hassan Rouhani have won a majority in the nation's parliament and the clerical assembly that selects Iran's supreme leader, the Associate Press reported Monday.

The results from Friday's vote, if confirmed, would provide a boost for Rouhani's efforts to strengthen social and economic ties with the West. It would also reflect support for the nuclear deal signed with the United States and other world powers that is bringing to an end a series of crippling economic sanctions.

 

[ThunderKiss1965]

And the Ayatollah is still the supreme leader.

 

[martybegan]

Could be good news in eventual permanent nuclear disarmament

Reports: Moderates gain control of Iran parliament

Candidates backing Iranian President Hassan Rouhani have won a majority in the nation's parliament and the clerical assembly that selects Iran's supreme leader, the Associate Press reported Monday.

The results from Friday's vote, if confirmed, would provide a boost for Rouhani's efforts to strengthen social and economic ties with the West. It would also reflect support for the nuclear deal signed with the United States and other world powers that is bringing to an end a series of crippling economic sanctions.

Wishful thinking. If the Council of Guardians doesn't like how this parliament is acting, they can just deny the right to re-run for election to the more moderate MP's the next time around.

 

[Rozman]

I wonder why the Obama followers haven't given him credit or a thank you yet?

 

[LuckyDuck01!]

Three hundred Islamic clerics must approve any candidate who wants to run for president of Iran. If a candidate wants to run, he (only a he) must be vetted by those three hundred clerics first. As long as they run things, nothing will really change.

 

[Coyote]

It's not a huge change but it's a tiny crack and that should be welcomed. I hears somewhere that some of the hardliners for the Council of Experts (?) were in trouble this election.

 

[rightwinger]

Could be good news in eventual permanent nuclear disarmament

Reports: Moderates gain control of Iran parliament

Candidates backing Iranian President Hassan Rouhani have won a majority in the nation's parliament and the clerical assembly that selects Iran's supreme leader, the Associate Press reported Monday.

The results from Friday's vote, if confirmed, would provide a boost for Rouhani's efforts to strengthen social and economic ties with the West. It would also reflect support for the nuclear deal signed with the United States and other world powers that is bringing to an end a series of crippling economic sanctions.

Wishful thinking. If the Council of Guardians doesn't like how this parliament is acting, they can just deny the right to re-run for election to the more moderate MP's the next time around.

True...but you can't deny a shift to the center

 

[martybegan]

Could be good news in eventual permanent nuclear disarmament

Reports: Moderates gain control of Iran parliament

Candidates backing Iranian President Hassan Rouhani have won a majority in the nation's parliament and the clerical assembly that selects Iran's supreme leader, the Associate Press reported Monday.

The results from Friday's vote, if confirmed, would provide a boost for Rouhani's efforts to strengthen social and economic ties with the West. It would also reflect support for the nuclear deal signed with the United States and other world powers that is bringing to an end a series of crippling economic sanctions.

Wishful thinking. If the Council of Guardians doesn't like how this parliament is acting, they can just deny the right to re-run for election to the more moderate MP's the next time around.

True...but you can't deny a shift to the center

We have seen this before, the moderates get to sing Kumbaya for a few years, and then they get shunted off to the side for more tractable candidates.

 

[waltky]

Iranian moderates need to make hay while the sun shines...

Why Iran's moderates must capitalise quickly
Sat, 30 Apr 2016 - Why Iran's moderates must capitalise quickly on poll win

The run-off parliamentary election win by the moderate government of Iran is a crucial victory for them. The vote held on Friday was for 68 seats out of the 290 in parliament. It meant that nervous Iranians woke up on Saturday morning to an all new political landscape. For the first time in 13 years moderates and reformists now have a majority in parliament. While it was not a sweeping victory for the supporters of President Hassan Rouhani, it was still a surprise win, especially given the months of heavy campaigning against the government's policies. Hardliners had a majority in the outgoing parliament. In the three years since Hassan Rouhani took office, they have bitterly opposed most of government's plans, organising a fierce attack on the nuclear deal between Iran and world powers.

Some MPs have even gone so far as to describe Foreign Minister Javad Zarif as a traitor. The popular moderate who negotiated the nuclear deal has regularly been subject to harsh criticism in parliament and is under constant threat of impeachment by fundamentalist MPs. Now almost all those MPs have been unseated by moderate or reformist counterparts, and those who remain either supported the deal or at least never attacked it as vociferously as their unseated comrades. Many observers argue the nuclear deal not only brought an end to years of harsh international sanctions but was also the deal-breaker in the elections. The people were saying no to those who had promised to stop the deal.

An Iranian woman holds a girl as she casts her vote during a second round of parliamentary elections, in Shiraz​

What puts this victory in a more meaningful context is the fact that it was achieved despite almost all well-known reformists being banned from running in the elections and a complete lack of media coverage of their campaign in the run-up to the elections. State TV and media never gave equal coverage to reformists or moderate candidates and even led a campaign against the deal in recent months. The only medium available to pro-government candidates was the internet and social media, which they used to the maximum in getting their message across, especially to the young and women. The triumph of the reformists should lead to a major realignment within parliament, making it more supportive of President Rouhani. But it will by no means end the president's problems when it comes to delivering his election promises. The nuclear deal has hit some rough patches on its way to implementation.

Apart from domestic oppositions from hardliners in parliament and other unelected bodies, there are still a lot of obstacles to overcome outside of Iran. The international banks still have not opened up to Iranian businesses and in the US, conservatives in Congress are doing all they can to derail the deal. Any more delays in its implementation and ensuing lifting of sanctions would harm President Rouhani's economic reform plans and would prepare the ground for hardliners to recover from the this week's defeat in order to reshape their campaign against the government. Time is not on the moderates' side and the new momentum could die down easily if it is not supported by economic rewards. This is a worry that every unseated hardliner MP is focusing on from now onwards.

Why Iran's moderates must capitalise quickly - BBC News

 

[RoshawnMarkwees]

Iran doesn't elect anything. It's a show.
Democrats should not be allowed to vote.

 

[JoeB131]

Three hundred Islamic clerics must approve any candidate who wants to run for president of Iran. If a candidate wants to run, he (only a he) must be vetted by those three hundred clerics first. As long as they run things, nothing will really change.

Pretty much like how 300 Corporate Assholes decide who can run for President in this country?

 

[LuckyDuck01!]

Yeah, but they aren't telling our women what they can wear and who they can be out with.