page_title: 2016 Iranian legislative election
section_title: Campaigns and voting
hierarchical_section_title: 2016 Iranian legislative election / Campaigns and voting
caption_attribution_description: English: Ali Motahari in People's Voice convention
context_page_description: Parliamentary elections were held in Iran on 26 February 2016 to elect members of the Islamic Consultative Assembly for all seats in the 10th parliament in the Islamic Republic era and the 34th since the Persian Constitutional Revolution. A second round was held on 29 April 2016 for some constituencies where candidates failed to obtain the required minimum 25 percent of votes cast. The elected MPs will serve from May 28, 2016 to May 27, 2020.
  The election was held as part of a general election which also elected members of the Assembly of Experts.
  This election was the first time that both bodies were elected simultaneously.
  There were 54,915,024 registered voters. More than 12,000 people filed to run for office.
  5,200 candidates, mostly Reformists, were rejected by the Guardian Council and 612 individuals withdrew.
context_section_description: The conservative camp also known as principlists, consisting of various groups, held the majority of the parliament. The camp spent months bringing together their various wings and formed the “Principlists Grand Coalition”, headed by former speaker of the parliament Gholam-Ali Haddad-Adel. The coalition included traditional conservative organizations most notably the Combatant Clergy Association, conservatives close to ex-president Ahmadinejad- some  of whom worked under the name of YEKTA Front– and hardline conservatives largely opposed to the government's policies, like the Stability Front. Campaigning on the "government's failure to deliver on promises of economic benefits from the nuclear deal, Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, and the lifting of sanctions"; they emphasised their economic backgrounds. On foreign policy, they were against "allowing American influence to permeate Iranian society and economy".
  The incumbent speaker Ali Larijani, declined to join the bloc because "they have not provided the necessary mechanisms for the creation of unity" and said he will run independently.
  The reformists and moderates, centrist allies of President Rouhani, made the “Alliance of Reformists and Government Supporters” or as the reformists named it, the “Pervasive Coalition of Reformists: The Second Step”, a name suggesting a sequel to the first step, 2013 presidential election victory. The coalition was headed by Mohammad Reza Aref and included pro-government moderate conservatives who were on the Followers of Wilayat fraction of Ali Larijani's companions, and aimed to prevent the hardliners from entering the parliament. Larijani himself was also backed by the list. Mohammad Khatami, who renamed the coalition to the “List of Hope” and Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani endorsed the list, alongside Hassan Rouhani who tacitly supported them by sending text message to every cell phone encouraging citizens to “to build the future of the country with plenty of hope”. The moderates faced considerable challenges in the Guardian Council’s vetting process and many of their lead figures were disqualified.
  Ali Motahari, who was on the List of Hope, decided to issue another list called “People's Voice” which was mostly made up of moderate conservatives.
  Among opposition parties, the National Front, Nation Party and Pan-Iranist Party boycotted the elections. The Freedom Movement of Iran called on voters to cast their ballots and backed reformists.
  Ali Khamenei, Supreme leader of Iran, voted on the beginning of election day. He had no comment on the result of the election but asked people for high turnout in the coming election.
caption: Ali Motahari speaking in PV's convention
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