2003 Tehran City Council election

2006 Islamic City Council of Tehran election Iran parliamentary Popular 12% no Tehran City Council election, 1999 1999 28 February 2003 Tehran City Council election, 2006 2006 15 City Council seats 8 Conservatives 14 15 Alliance of Builders of Islamic Iran 14 Reformists 0 15 #28c0a6 15 Nationalist-Religious 0 15 Freedom-SeekersCoalition 0 15 Chairman Vacant Mehdi Chamran Conservatives An election to the Islamic City Council of Tehran took place on 28 February 2003, along with the local elections nationwide. The results showed a victory for the conservative Alliance of Builders of Islamic Iran, that gained 14 out of 15 seats, and a massive defeat for all of the Reformist groupings, as well as the Council of Nationalist-Religious Activists of Iran and the Freedom Movement of Iran. The election is seen as the first in a series of electoral victories for the conservatives, followed by the 2004 legislative election and the 2005 presidential election. Historian Ervand Abrahamian attributes the result to the conservatives retaining their 25% voter base, while "large numbers of women, college students, and other members of the salaried middle class stayed home".A History of Modern Iran Ervand Abrahamian 2008 Cambridge University Press 978-0-521-82139-1 193 Voter turnout fell to 12% in this election.Ehteshami Anoushiravan Zweiri Mahjoob Iran and the Rise of Its Neoconservatives: The Politics of Tehran's Silent Revolution I.B.Tauris 2007 0857713671 35–37 This election also marked rise of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to national prominence, because he was subsequently elected as the Mayor of Tehran and his profile was raised for his presidential campaign in 2005.Amir Arjomand Saïd After Khomeini: Iran Under His Successors 2009 https://archive.org/details/afterkhomeiniira00arjo limited Oxford University Press 2009 150 9780199745760 Campaign Conservatives Alliance of Builders of Islamic Iran Mayoral nominee: Not declaredCampaign manager: Mahmoud Ahmadinejad Listed candidates 1 Mehdi Chamran 2 Abbas Sheybani 3 Nader Shariatmadari 4 Hassan Bayadi 5 Hassan Ziari 6 Habib Kashani 7 Mahmoud Khosravi-Vafa 8 Hamzeh Shakib 9 Khosro Daneshjou 10 Masoud Zaribafan 11 Amir Reza Vaezi-Ashtiani 12 Nasrin Soltankhah 13 Manzar Khayyer-Habibollahi 14 Mahnoush Motamedi-Azar 15 Mohammad-Mehdi Mazaheri-Tehrani Most of the figures from the conservative camp sat out of the election and did not enroll as a candidate.Dan De Luce Reformers under pressure in Iranian elections https://www.theguardian.com/world/2003/mar/01/iran 1 March 2003 The Guardian The faction put forward one single list under the banner of the Alliance of Builders of Islamic Iran (ABII), an alliance between old guard conservatives and new forces within the faction.Arang Keshavarzian Regime Loyalty and Bāzārī Representation under the Islamic Republic of Iran: Dilemmas of the Society of Islamic Coalition 40206103 International Journal of Middle East Studies 225–246 41 2 2009 The ABII billed themselves as technocrats with the expertise to run the city while key conservative parties and organizations kept a low-profile during the days leading to the election. No conservative party released candidate lists for the election.Bill Samii https://www.rferl.org/a/1342728.html Iran Report 3 March 2003 6 9 RFE/RL Islamic Coalition Party's leading member Hamidreza Taraghi told press: "Our campaign policy is not to publish any statements or posters... we do not wish to politicize the situation... we are trying not to support those individuals who have greater political inclination than professional expertise".Bill Samii https://www.rferl.org/a/1342722.html Iran Report 24 February 2003 6 8 RFE/RL Campaign manager of the ABII during the elections was Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. The campaign focused on calling for members of Basij and their families to vote for the group.Michael Axworthy Revolutionary Iran: A History of the Islamic Republic Oxford University Press 2016 373–374 9780190468965 In one newspaper ad, many ABII members appeared clean-shaven like their reformist rivals, in order to display technological seriousness. Reformists Islamic Iran Participation Front Mayoral nominee: Mohsen Safaei Farahani Listed Candidates 1 Mostafa Tajzadeh 2 Alireza Rajaei 3 Hossein Zaman 4 Mojtaba Badi'i 5 Fariba Davoudi-Mohajer 6 Davoud Asgari 7 Ahmad Mousazadeh 8 Hamid Majedi 9 Majid Farahani 10 Nastaran Nassiri 11 Amir Mansouri 12 Majid Shafipour 13 Taghi Nourbakhsh 14 Mohammadreza Behzadian 15 Nahid Jalali Source: ISNA Executives of Construction Party Mayoral nominee: Gholamhossein Karbaschi Listed candidates (incomplete) Gholamreza Ghobbeh Abolghassem Ashouri Kamal Aziminia Mohsen Vaheb Mahmoud Alizadeh-Tabatabaei Mohammadreza Behzadian Rasoul Khadem Hengameh Shahidi Ali-Asghar Negarandeh Source: Jamejam Online, ISNA The Reformists who supported the incumbent President Mohammad Khatami, entered the elections divided. They had engaged an inter-factional rivalry, possibly out of overconfidence that they will win the election.Stephen C. Fairbanks https://www.rferl.org/a/1342723.html Iran Report 10 March 2003 6 10 RFE/RL In January, disagreements were reported between 2nd of Khordad coalition members over compiling a shared list of candidates. Association of Combatant Clerics (ACC) declared that it would not issue a list for itself, but will endorse a list of candidates if all reformist parties and organizations reach an agreement. As the reformist parties were involved with infighting, student organizations and journalists who had played an important in mobilizing voters to support the reformists in previous elections were either silent or withdrew their support from the camp. The Office for Strengthening Unity (OSU) released a statement and declared that it is not supporting the reformists because they were not actually addressing people's concerns.Nazila Fathi Hard-Liners Victorious in Tehran, Dealing Reformers a Blow https://www.nytimes.com/2003/03/03/world/hard-liners-victorious-in-tehran-dealing-reformers-a-blow.html 3 March 2003 The New York Times Unified Front of 2nd of Khordad Mayoral nominee: Not declared Coalition members Islamic Iran Solidarity Party Islamic Labour Party Islamic Association of Engineers of Iran Assembly of the Forces of Imam's Line Listed candidates 1 Ebrahim Asgharzadeh 2 Elaheh Rastgou 3 Ahmad Hakimipour 4 Rahmatollah Khosravi 5 Mohammad-Ali Rahmani 6 Fayyaz Zahed 7 Mohsen Sorkhou 8 Hassan Sadeghi 9 Latif Safari 10 Davoud Asgari 11 Mohsen Ghamsari 12 Morteza Lotfi 13 Hassan Mokhtari 14 Karim Malek-Asa 15 Mohammadreza BahmaeiSource: ISNA, ISNA List of Reformist Journalists 1 Mostafa Tajzadeh 2 Ebrahim Asgharzadeh 3 Ahmad Hakimipour 4 Ali-Asghar Negarandeh 5 Nikahang Kowsar 6 Morteza Lotfi 7 Hengameh Shahidi 8 Omid Memarian 9 Mohammadreza Karimi 10 Fariba Davoudi-Mohajer 11 Saeed Razavi-Faqih 12 Latif Safari 13 Alireza Rajaei 14 Behrouz Behzadi 15 Fayyaz ZahediSource: ISNA On 19 February 2003, Ali-Mohammad Gharbiani of election headquarters of the 2nd of Khordad coalition said that names of 33 candidates has been compiled for 15 spots on the final list. However, not every party agreed that all names should be on the list. Major disagreements were reported in media between the Executives of Construction Party (ECP) and the Islamic Iran Solidarity Party (IISP). It was also reported that the latter had threatened that it would not be part of the coalition if its secretary-general Ebrahim Asgharzadeh is not included. Asgharzadeh had recently made negative remarks about Islamic Iran Participation Front (IIPF), a leading party in the coalition, which led to resignation of some IISP members in protest. On the other hand, Majid Farahani of the IIPF said his party will reconsider participation in the coalition if certain candidates are included in the list. Due to differences of opinion being continued between these parties, each of the ECP, the IIPF and the IISF released separate candidate lists. ECP campaign presented their candidates as "pragmatic "professionals" who can deliver better city services and end partisan bickering". According to The Economist, the "star candidate" of the reformist camp was Mostafa TajzadehElections in Iran: A weary country https://www.economist.com/middle-east-and-africa/2003/03/06/a-weary-country 6 March 2003 The Economist who belonged to the IIPF list. Analysts expected that the party would show poorly. Religious-Nationalists Friends of Bazargan, Taleghani, Sahabi Leader: Ebrahim Yazdi Listed Candidates 1 Abolfazl Bazargan 2 Mohammad Tavasoli 3 Mohammad-Hossein Baniasadi 4 Gholam-Abbas Tavassoli 5 Hassan Farid-Alam 6 Khosrow Mansourian 7 Amir Khorram 8 Majid Hakimi 9 Tahereh Taleghani 10 Alireza Rajaei 11 Mohammad-Javad Mozaffar 12 Fariba Davoudi-Mohajer 13 Saeed Razavi-Faqih 14 Leila Liaghat Source: ISNA Council of Nationalist-Religious Activists Leader: Ezzatollah Sahabi Listed Candidates 1 Mohammad Tavasoli 2 Mohammad-Hassan Shahidi 3 Mohammad-Hossein Baniasadi 4 Abolfazl Bazargan 5 Hassan Farid-Alam 6 Mostafa Tajzadeh 7 Latif Safari 8 Khosrow Mansourian 9 Mohammad-Javad Mozaffar 10 Alireza Rajaei 11 Mojtaba Badi'i 12 Mostafa Izadi 13 Issa Saharkhiz 14 Ahmad Mousazadeh Source: ISNA Members of liberal opposition groups based inside Iran declared themselves candidates for the election. Due to the local elections being exempt from Guardian Council vetting process, the dissidents were allowing to run by the reformist-dominated election board in Tehran.Nazila Fathi World Briefing, Middle East: Iran: Election Day Warning https://www.nytimes.com/2003/03/01/world/world-briefing-middle-east-iran-election-day-warning.html 1 March 2003 The New York TimesNazila Fathi World Briefing, Middle East: Iran: Challenge To Hard-Liners https://www.nytimes.com/2003/01/07/world/world-briefing-middle-east-iran-challenge-to-hard-liners.html 7 January 2003 The New York Times Among the groups were the Freedom Movement of Iran (FMI) and the Council of Nationalist-Religious Activists. The former issued a statement urging the voters to show up for the election, which said: "those not supporting the municipal elections are, in fact, against the council-oriented system of government and against democracy and the reform process". Since the 1980s, the faction was banned from running for elections and their freedom to run was harshly criticized by the conservatives. A court sent a letter to the election board, calling the groups and their qualification illegal. Society of Women of the Islamic Revolution Leader: Azam Taleghani Listed Candidates 1 Alireza Rajaei 2 Hossein Ahmadi 3 Mostafa Izadi 4 Mojtaba Badi'i 5 Mostafa Tajzadeh 6 Mohammad Tavasoli 7 Issa Saharkhiz 8 Mohammad-Hassan Shahidi 9 Tahereh Taleghani 10 Hassan Farid-Alam 11 Saeid Madani 12 Marzieh Mortazi-Langeroudi 13 Khosrow Mansourian 14 Hamid Nouhi 15 Zohreh Aghajari (withdrew)Source: ISNA Ali Khamenei, Iran's Supreme Leader, slammed "irregularities" in qualifying members of the groups and said the elections would be invalidated if they won. Campaign for Mohsen Sazegara National Coalition of Freedom-Seekers Mohsen Sazegara who had been disillusioned with the reformists and tried to run in the 2001 presidential election against the incumbent President Mohammad Khatami (being disqualified by the Guardian Council), was jailed at the time of the election and in protest conducted a hunger strike. In the election, a list of fifteen liberals was announced by friends of Sazegara, led by one of his brothers, pledging to appoint Sazegara as the next mayor if they were elected. They printed big pictures of Sazegara and installed them on almost every major street in the city. Sazegara was soon released from imprisonment. American conservative analyst Joshua Muravchik attributes release of Sazegara to the campaign, which caused the authorities "fearing that this might attract a large protest vote".Joshua Muravchik The Next Founders: Voices of Democracy in the Middle East Encounter Books 9781594034022 2010 46 National Coalition of Freedom-SeekersMayoral nominee: Mohsen Sazegara Listed candidates (incomplete) Saeid Haghi Mehdi Sazegara Mohsen Vaheb Gholamhossein Khorshidi Alireza Rajaei Source: ISNA Results #CandidateAffiliationVotes%↓ Sitting Members ↓1Mehdi Chamran Alliance of Builders192,71636.572Abbas SheybaniAlliance of Builders178,35133.843Nader ShariatmadariAlliance of Builders104,14719.764Hassan BayadiAlliance of Builders103,15019.575Hassan ZiariAlliance of Builders100,45419.066Habib KashaniAlliance of Builders99,01318.787Mahmoud KhosravivafaAlliance of Builders98,39018.678Hamzeh ShakibAlliance of Builders98,31318.659Khosro DaneshjouAlliance of Builders98,29118.6510Masoud ZaribafanAlliance of Builders95,97118.2111Rasoul KhademIndependent92,60617.5712Amir Reza Vaezi-AshtianiAlliance of Builders90,83217.2413Nasrin SoltankhahAlliance of Builders90,029 17.0814Manzar Khayyer-HabibollahiAlliance of Builders87,69016.6415Mahnoush Motamedi-AzarAlliance of Builders85,83916.29↓ Alternate Members ↓16Mostafa TajzadehReformist66,19612.5617Mohammad-Mehdi Mazaheri-TehraniAlliance of Builders54,61610.3618Abolghassem AshouriReformist51,4929.7719Ebrahim AsgharzadehReformist45,5198.3620Mehdi Ghasemi-KajaniIndependent41,8447.9421Alireza RajaeiNationalist-Religious36,0786.84↓ Defeated ↓22Gholamreza GhobbehReformist35,9986.8323Abolfazl BazarganNationalist-Religious34,6426.5724Fariba Davoudi-MohajerReformist32,8676.2425Mohammadreza BehzadianReformist32,2296.1126Ali FathollahzadehIndependent31,633 6.0027Latif SafariReformist29,9605.6828Seyyed Mansour RazaviReformist28,5885.4229Amir AbediniIndependent27,7825.2730Gholam-Abbas TavassoliNationalist-Religious26,2264.9831Tahereh TaleghaniNationalist-Religious23,5974.4832Hamid MajediReformist23,0584.3733Hossein ZamanReformist22,1564.2034Mohammad TavasoliNationalist-Religious21,9224.1635Mojtaba Badi'iReformist21,6894.1136Mahmoud Alizadeh-TabatabaeiReformist20,9813.9837Tahereh TaherianIndependent20,8713.9638Mohammad-Hossein DoroudianReformist19,9333.7839Kamal AziminiaReformist19,5323.7140Saeed Razavi-FaqihNationalist-Religious19,1493.6341Elaheh RastgouReformist19,0153.6142Mohammad-Hossein BaniasadiNationalist-Religious18,7813.5643Davoud AsgariReformist18,4743.5144Ahmad HakimipourReformist18,2723.4745Ahmad MousazadehReformist17,6453.3546Leila LiaghatNationalist-Religious16,9263.2147Mostafa IzadiNationalist-Religious16,7843.1848Hassan Farid-AlamNationalist-Religious16,6203.1549Hengameh ShahidiReformist17,5843.3450Morteza LotfiReformist16,0823.0551Mohammad-Javad MozaffarNationalist-Religious15,9433.0353Seyyed Amir MansouriReformist15,8093.0053Nahid JalaliReformist15,7512.9954Majid Shafipour-MotlaghReformist15,4382.9355Nastaran NassiriReformist14,8462.8256Omid MemarianReformist14,6802.7957Mir Ali-Asghar NegarandehReformist14,0372.6658Majid FarahaniReformist13,7252.6059Hamzeh KaramiReformist13,6642.5960Mahmoud Amanpour-GharaeiIndependent13,2572.5261Mohsen Saberi-QomiIndependent12,7352.4262Khosrow MansourianNationalist-Religious12,7192.4163Shahram Salmasi-JavidIndependent12,6082.3964Seyyed Taghi NourbakhshReformist12,0952.3065Mohammad-Mehdi SazegaraReformist10,5902.0166Issa SaharkhizReformist10,4451.9867Mohsen SorkhouReformist9,4891.8068Amir KhorramNationalist-Religious9,2391.7569Rahmatollah KhosraviReformist8,8421.6870Majid HakimiNationalist-Religious8,4911.61Invalid/blank votes35,5506.31Total Votes562,522100lower-alpha Source: Ettela'at International (1 https://web.archive.org/web/20170901203735/http://www.ettelaat.com/etbarchive/1996-2014/2003/03/03/P1.pdf 2017-09-01 2) References Iran Politics Tehran 2003 Category:2000s in Tehran