2024-03-01 22:01:40
On Friday, Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei opened the elections for the Shura Council and the leadership experts in Hosseiniyah in a heavily guarded area by casting his vote.
Announcement
We called on about 61 million voters in the Islamic Republic to choose members of the Islamic Shura Council, which is considered the country’s parliament, and members of the Leadership Council of Experts, an influential body of Muslim scholars, which usually elects the Supreme Leader.
Voting has been extended until eight o’clock in the evening local time, and the first results are expected at the end of the week.
Elections for the Leadership Council of Experts, which includes 88 new influential men in power, are held every 8 years, and this time the elections gain double importance, given that Khamenei enters his 85th year, when the members of the new council begin their duties next April.
The Assembly of Experts elections were held separately, but low turnout prompted the authorities to combine them with the timing of the parliamentary elections, justifying this by reducing election expenses.
Recently, there were no signs of a desire to participate in the elections in the capital, Tehran, where many people were disillusioned after failed reform attempts in recent decades, and were planning to stay away from voting.
Because the reformist camp has become so weak, conservative forces, in particular, are vying for power.
These are the first elections since the women-led protests in the fall of 2022, after the death of the young woman Mahsa Amini.
Well-known activists, including the 2023 Nobel Peace Prize laureate, imprisoned human rights activist Narges Mohammadi, called for a boycott of the elections.
Additional sources • dad
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