“The Islamic Republic’s 10th parliamentary elections have yielded a significant victory not only for Reformists, but also for women pushing for change in Iranian society. While the final nationwide results are not expected until March 1; early numbers show twice the number of female members as in the previous parliament. Though ballots from many districts are still uncounted, it is clear that the number of women will reach at least 22. Thus far, 15 women have won seats in Parliament, and 14 of them are Reformists. These include all eight women on the Reformist-moderate “List of Hope” in Tehran, where the results are set to be finalized on Feb. 29.”
“The push to change the gender makeup of parliament began last November, when various women’s rights groups initiated campaigns to increase the number of female parliament members to 100. These social media campaigns by a plethora of women’s groups aimed to elect women who advance gender equality to 30% of Parliament’s 290 seats. As a result, a record number of women registered as candidates for parliament: 1,234 out of the total of 12,123 hopefuls. Out of the over 6,200 registered candidates who were approved by the Guardian Council, 586 were women. In the Assembly of Experts elections, which were held in parallel with the parliamentary vote, 16 women registered to run. However, all of them were disqualified by the Guardian Council.”
IR Theory & Practice 