2008 Iranian legislative election

A few months before the election on December 14, 2007, twenty-one moderate and reformist parties formed a coalition centered on Mohammad Khatami to increase their chances in the election.[5] However, around 1,700 candidates were barred from running by the Guardian Council vetting body, the Supervisory and Executive Election Boards,[6] on the grounds that they were not sufficiently loyal to the Iranian revolution.[7] These included 90% of "independent and reformist candidates,"[8] 19 sitting MPs, and Ayatollah Khomeini's grandson, Ali Eshraghi, who complained,

"What saddens me most is the method of discernment used [by the Council of Guardians]. . . . They had asked my neighbors if I pray my daily prayers, or fast? Does my wife respect the Hijab? Do I shave? Or smoke cigarettes? What kind of car do I drive, and do I dress in a suit!"[9]

Another candidate, Ayatollah Mousavi Tabrizi, protested his disqualification on the grounds of "lack of belief in law and in Islam,"[10] noting that he was not only an ayatollah and a member of the scientific board of the theological seminaries of Qom, but he had earlier qualified to run for the Assembly of Experts, the clerical body whose functions include selection of the supreme leader.[11]

With the elimination of reformists, the election has been described as a "contest between conservatives who still support" president Ahmadinejad, and conservatives who don't,[12] or "hard-liners generally in sync with Ahmadinejad and ... `pragmatic conservatives,` ... unsympathetic" to him.[13]

Reformist leaders pushed for Iranians to vote in parliamentary elections, hoping to prevent a sweep by hard-liners allied with President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.[14] Allies of hard-line President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad seized the largest share of parliament seats, vote counting nearly completed everywhere in the country except for the capital, Tehran, on March 16, 2008. Conservative critics of Ahmadinejad won a substantial bloc in the legislature, highlighting the growing discontent with the president's fiery style and failure to repair the ailing economy of Iran. Reformists, who seek greater democracy in Iran and closer ties with the West, showed strength in some cities where the clerical leadership allowed them to compete. Reformist leaders said March 16, 2008 that at least 14 winning independents are pro-reform, bringing their bloc to 45 seats so far. If correct, that would be around the size of the reformist presence in the outgoing parliament. Iran's leaders on March 16, 2008 declared the country's parliament elections, which were carried by conservatives, a victory that showed Iranians' defiance of the West. The United States and Europe called the vote unfair after most reformists were barred from running.[15]

The National Front boycotted the elections.[16]

Inter-Parliamentary Union

Cainer (2008)

Zimmt (2008)

More than half of the reformist seats belongs to the main reformist coalition and the rest are affiliated with the NTP.

Farhi (2008)

According to Farideh Farhi, out of the 287 seats, approximately 170 can be identified as won by conservatives whose candidacy was supported by the two major conservative lists. United Front of Principlists won 117 seats and Principlists Pervasive Coalition won 96, while 50 were endorsed by both. A portion of conservatives, "die-hard" Mahmoud Ahmadinejad supporters secured about 40% of the seats.[19]

Katzman (2009)

Sanandaji (2009)

Mardomsalari newspaper (2012)

According to Democracy Party's organ, the conservatives won 199 seats while the reformists won 47 and 41 were independents.[22]

Zaccara (2014)

Issues in the election have been described as "unemployment, inflation and fuel shortages" in a petroleum-exporting country, and increasing inequality.[12] "The price of some basic foods has doubled within the past year and rents are soaring." Influential conservative clerics are also said to be irritated by president Ahmadinejad's "folksy and superstitious brand of ostentatious piety and his favouritism to men of military rather than clerical backgrounds."[26]

• Iran Profile, election guide