As disheartening as the 2016 election is, with the populism and illiberalism of Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders, Americans can find one country for optimism: Iran.
In the Iranian parliament and assembly of experts, voters gave “a sweeping victory for reformist-backed candidates,” according to The Guardian.
Moderates hold a 59 percent majority in the assembly, which chooses the Supreme Leader, and reformist-minded or moderate candidates hold 158 of parliament’s 290 seats.
As public opinion in Iran shifts toward deeper engagement with the West, along with social and economic reforms that allows more freedom, the hardliner grip on power has slipped. The elections are seen as a “humiliating blow” to conservative influence in Iran and a “strong vote of confidence” in moderate President Hassan Rouhani, up for re-election in 2017, according to The Guardian.
“The assembly’s results are in [favor] of the reformists not because reformist candidates are entering the clerical body but because of alliances with successful moderate-leaning candidates,” Saeed Kamali Dehghan wrote.
Results throughout the country beyond Tehran won’t be finalized until Tuesday, but the vote reveals a younger generation expecting change. The Independent defined the divide between the young and “tech-savvy” and the “arthritic system” that retains power.
All is not rosy. Thousands of reformist and moderate candidates were denied by the Guardian Council to run for political positions to stifle the population who wants to see greater engagement with the West.
When preferred candidates weren’t available, voters chose the conservatives to block hardliners.
Generally, “hardliners” oppose the American-Iranian nuclear deal, and reformist, moderates, and conservatives embraced the move. Dramatic change isn’t likely in Iran, the AP noted, but the elections were promising for Iranians inclined to economic reforms and greater social freedom.
