Early results show Iran’s hardliners are on track for a sweeping victory in the parliamentary election after many voters stayed away due to the absence of prominent reformist candidates and disillusionment over economic hardships. The official voting numbers are not yet known, but unofficial estimates put the turnout at about 40 percent – the lowest in any parliamentary election since the 1979 Islamic revolution. Estimates in the bigger cities are as low as 20 percent to 30 percent, making them even more embarrassing for the Islamic republic as voters failed to engage.
In Tehran, the official results so far show the hardliners have won all 30 seats with Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf, the former mayor, as the leading winner. Saeed Shariati, a reformist political activist, said in a post on Twitter that 78 percent of eligible voters in the capital did not vote.
Low turnouts in other big cities such as Isfahan, Mashhad and Tabriz also look set to help the hardliners to victory. The Islamic republic has capitalised on traditionally high turnouts in national elections in the past to boast about its public legitimacy. “Politicians always confiscated our turnout in their favour instead of resolving our problems,” said one taxi driver who did not vote. “We realised our votes make no change.”
“The new members of parliament are supported by a small minority of citizens,” said Hamid-Reza Jalaeipour, a university professor of sociology. “The main reason people did not vote is because they see it would have no impact on the country’s affairs.”
Economic hardships have also subdued the mood in Iran. Friday’s poll was the first since US president Donald Trump imposed tough sanctions on the country after withdrawing from the 2015 nuclear deal world powers signed with Tehran. The rial, Iran’s currency, has fallen by about 60 per cent over the past two years and annual inflation is now at 37 percent.