1950 Iranian legislative election

None 1950 Iranian legislative election Iran State flag of Iran (1933–1964).svg parliamentary no 1950 Dr Mohammad Mosaddeq (cropped).jpg Mohammad Mosaddegh font-weight:normal;text-align:center; Parties Iran Party Party of the Iranian People Society of Muslim Warriors Third Force National Front Tehran 8≈11 Iranian legislative election, 1947 1947 Iranian legislative election, 1952 1952 All 136 seats to the National Consultative Assembly D67B58 Parliament 1950.svg 3x4.svg CDCDCD Independent 126 Parliamentary elections were held in Iran in 1950. Background Elections for the 16th Majlis began in late July 1949. The 16th Majlis was to be a bicameral parliament composed of the Majlis as the lower house and the Senate as the upper house. Following a framework set down in the 1906 Constitution, the Shah began appointing 30 of the 60 senators. As a reaction to the Shah's selection of royalists friendly to his views, and concerns about his rigging of the general elections, Mohammad Mosaddegh called for a protest on 13 October 1949. Thousands marched from his mansion to the royal palace gardens. There, in a meeting with Interior Minister Abdolhossein Hazhir, 20 opposition and radical politicians led by Mosaddegh demanded a halt to the Shah's hindrance of free elections. After three days of sit-in protest they extracted a promise from Hazhir that he would conduct elections fairly. Directly afterward, the committee of 20 formed the National Front coalition. In the next few weeks, elections were challenged as rigged. As a result, Hazhir was assassinated on 4–5 November 1949 by the Fada'iyan-e Islam. In February 1950 at the conclusion of elections for the 16th Majlis, the National Front took eight seats in the Majlis—Abol-Ghasem Kashani and Mosaddegh both won seats—and from that platform for the next few years continued to call for reductions in the power of the monarchy; a return to the Constitution of 1906. With the backing of the extremist Fada'iyan, the regular clergy, and the middle-class people, despite its minority toehold in parliament, the National Front became the main opposition movement of Iran. The self-serving constitutional changes had created a backlash against the Shah.3012310 Abrahamian Ervand Ervand Abrahamian Iran in Revolution: The Opposition Forces MERIP Reports Middle East Research and Information Project (MERIP) 75–76 Iran in Revolution March–April 1979 3–8 10.2307/3012310 Campaign On 28 July 1949, the term of the 15th Majlis came to its natural end.http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-107203553.html https://web.archive.org/web/20150924045553/http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-107203553.html usurped 24 September 2015 The United States, Iran and Operation 'Ajax': inverting interpretative orthodoxy Marsh Steve 1 July 2003 Middle Eastern Studies 39 3 1–38 10.1080/00263200412331301657 145566712 HighBeam Research subscription Abdolhossein Hazhir, the Shah's interior minister, initiated preparations to hold elections for the 16th Majlis, including Iran's first Senate. The Shah began selecting the 30 senators that were his to choose. The election was held, and it became clear that rural Iran was voting in favor of royalist supporters of the Shah. Mosaddegh and others reacted to what they saw as rigged results in rural elections by organizing a protest. Mosaddegh called for the people of Tehran to join him in marching on the royal palace on 13 October 1949. Thousands of workers, students and middle-class people gathered at his estate and walked together to the royal palace gates where they requested bast (political sanctuary), a traditional act requiring the king to provide protection. After messages were exchanged between the people and the palace, 20 of the crowd were selected as leaders, with Mosaddegh at the head. These 20 were allowed inside the royal grounds to begin bast, in this case a form of sit-in protest.Milani 2012, p. 170https://books.google.com/books?id=GpPeyef-FO4C&pg=PA167 167 Stephen C. Poulson Social Movements in Twentieth-Century Iran: Culture, Ideology, and Mobilizing Frameworks Lexington Books 2006 0739117572 They passed a message to the Shah saying that Interior Minister Abdolhossein Hazhir had rigged the elections in rural Iran. Mosaddegh wrote a note to Hazhir saying that, "the main reason for our sit-in is that in this period of parliamentary recess when the appointment of a Prime Minister does not require a vote of inclination by the Majlis, we hope His Majesty can appoint a government whose goal is to preserve the interests of the monarchy and the nation." The protesters spent several days in bast, including a hunger strike of two days. Finally, Hazhir met with the 20 himself and promised that the elections would be examined for fairness. If found unfair the results would be dismissed and new elections would be held. This answered the concerns of the protesters and they declared a success. Afterward, the committee of 20 returned to Mosaddegh's mansion where they agreed to form the National Front coalition. In the following weeks, the investigation of the elections commenced; many Iranians thought there would be some sort of smooth coverup of royal wrongdoing. However, on 4 November 1949, Hazhir was shot by the Fada'iyan, dying the next day. The Shah thus realized the depth of popular feeling formed against his electoral machinations; he declared the voting results invalid on 11 November. New elections were to be held in February 1950.https://books.google.com/books?id=wHFXD9VV9t4C&pg=PA260 260–261 Richard W. Cottam Nationalism in Iran: Updated Through 1978 University of Pittsburgh Press 1979 0822952998 The Fada'iyan guarded the polls to stop royal interference.Azimi 2008, p. 140 Results According to Michele Penner Angrist, Fakhreddin Azimi and John Limbert, the National Front gained eight out of 136 seats.Penner Angrist Michele 2011 Party Building in the Modern Middle East Publications on the Near East University of Washington Press 131 978-0295801124Limbert John W. 2009 Negotiating with Iran: Wrestling the Ghosts of History Cross-Cultural Negotiation Bks US Institute of Peace Press 65 978-1601270436 registration https://archive.org/details/negotiatingwithi00limb/page/65 Mosaddegh and seven other leaders of the front were elected to the Majlis; in Tehran, Mosaddegh received the highest number of votes of any candidate. Ervand Abrahamian says they had eleven seats.Abrahamian Ervand 2013 The Coup: 1953, the CIA, and the Roots of Modern U.S.-Iranian Relations The New Press 143–147 978-1595588265 the sixteenth Majles elections held in early 1950, the national front won eleven seats. Mossadeq headed the victor's list in Tehran. Kashani, Shayegan, Baqai, Makki, Haerizadeh, and Nariman followed. Moazemi, Saleh, Razavi, and Azad won in their home towns of Golpayegan, Kashan, Kerman, and Sabzevar. The eleven promptly formed their national Caucus (fraksiun-e Vatan). Kashani rarely participated in parliamentary meetings, deeming them inappropriate for a cleric of his standing. References Further reading Parliamentary Politics in Revolutionary Iran: The Institutionalization of Factional Politics (Hardcover) (Publisher: Gainesville : University Press of Florida, ©1996.) 978-0-8130-1461-6 Category:1950 elections in Asia Category:1950 in Iran Category:National Consultative Assembly elections Category:Lower house elections in Iran Category:Mohammad Mosaddegh