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TEHRAN (Islam Online)-Iranian reformists close to President Mohammad Khatami have won a clear majority of seats in the second round of voting for the new parliament. They won 52 of the 66 seats in run-off legislative elections, confirming their majority gained in the first round in February. But tension between the reformist and conservative factions is likely to persist until parliament convenes on May 27. An official of the Islamic Iran Participation Front, which is run by President Khatami's brother, said it had won 43 seats. Conservatives won 10 seats, with the rest going to independents. The conservative Council of Guardians, which oversees elections, has to endorse the results before they are binding. It annulled a dozen reformist victories in the first round, when reformers won 70% of the seats. If the Council endorses the latest results and 29 first-round reformist victories in Tehran, which have yet to be confirmed, reformers will have a clear majority in the 290-seat Majlis. Reformist candidates won three of the four seats in the major urban center of Tabriz, with the final place taken by an independent. A reformist candidate won in the big southern city of Shiraz. In the oil-producing province of Khuzestan, where local people believe oil revenues have not been used to boost the local economy, reformers won all but one of the eight seats contested. "A clear message to all those people who in the recent months have been resorting to illegal means and seemingly legal pretexts to defeat this promising movement," said Mohammad-Reza Khatami, head of the Islamic Participation Front. Former head of the judiciary and leading conservative, Ayatollah Yazdi, announced on Friday that the Tehran results would definitely be declared next Wednesday. Disputes and recounts have delayed the announcement of the results of 30 seats in the capital. Even if the parliament were able to convene but lacked the powerful Tehran reformists, the reform movement would be gravely weakened. This would undermine President Khatami's program of social and political reforms, according to political analysts. |
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