Results of the 6th Majles Elections
(based on the state of affairs on the 22nd of ordibehesht, 1379 / 11th of May 2000)

- 11 of the 290 newly elected members of parliament are women

- this brings the percentage of women to below 4%, as opposed to 5.2% in the last Majles.

- there is reason to believe that, in view of the political orientation of the newly elected members, despite being smaller in number, they may make for a more promising team than their predecessors.

- out of the 504 officially recognized candidates for the 290 seats in parliament, 7% were women.

- out of the 153 candidates who ran in Tehran, 12% were women - the highest percentage of women candidates in an electoral district was registered in Qom (16,7%)

- six of the successful first-round candidates were from the district of Tehran:
   Jamileh Kadivar    Sheila Jelodarzadeh    Vahideh 'Allaii    Elahe Koolaii    Fatemeh Haghighatjoo    Fatemeh Rakeii

- the three elected candidates from other districts were    Akran Mosavi-Nejad, Isfahan    Fatemeh Khatami, Mashhad    Tahereh Rezazadeh, Shiraz

- only two of the 52 successful second-round candidates were women, both allied to the dovom-e khordad movement:    Hamideh Edalat, Dashtestan    Shahrbanou Emami, Orumiyeh

Candidate Fatimeh Karubi Loses to Rival Reformist
Fatimeh Karubi, who was running for the second round of the Majles (parliamentary) elections after failing to reach the 25% quota in the first round, lost the race to fellow reformist, Mr. Mir Taher Mousavi. Out of a total of 114'456 votes, 53'492 went to Mir Taher Mousavi, while 52'631 went to Karubi (leaving 8'333 votes for the conservative candidate).

Karubi had been an important woman delegate of the district of Tehran in the last Majles. This year, members of the reformist dovom-e khordad movement, with whom she is affiliated, had suggested she run in Karaj, the largest suburb of Tehran. Participation for the second round in Karaj was reportedly very low, with voters not only doubting the Guardian Council's sincerity with respect to the elections, but also complaining about a lack of candidates from the local community (Neue Zürcher Zeitung, 8/5/2000).

Karubi has a career as director of several important hospitals behind her, and is president of jamei'at-e zanan-e jomhiri eslami, the Women's Organization of the Islamic Republic of Iran, and of the International Islamic Women's Conference, which, according to the magazine Zanan (bahman edition, 1378), is vying to rival some of the more prominent ('masculine') organizations in the country. Zanan, which evaluated the performances of all woman members of the past Majles in the above issue, emphasized Karubi's sense of management and diplomacy, which had allowed her to interact and negotiate with all the political currents represented in the Majles, including the far right.

Jamileh Kadivar expresses hope that women would hold seats in the Executive Assembly of the 6th Majlis.

In an interview with IRNA, Kadivar stated, since the incoming 6th Majlis held a positive position regarding women, there was hope for women¹s membership in the Executive Assembly. She also stressed the importance of the 6th Majlis placing women¹s issues at the top of its priority list.

She added, "The other issue concerns the civil rights of women, which must be addressed with appropriate laws that consider women¹s current social conditions, while heeding religious jurisprudence and the viewpoints of legal experts." Kadivar stated that one of the important projects for the 6th Majlis will be the reviewing of laws which were ratified by the 5th Majlis, "A commission in the 6th Majlis must examine seriously those laws that the 5th Majlis passed very hastily- either based on political machinations and motivations, or without the necessary expert advice." She continued that two other priorities of the 6th Majlis must be the reform of press laws that expand the rights of publishers, and that a special commission must be established concerning youth, with the purpose of responding to issues such as employment, housing, marriage, and the safeguarding of their freedoms.

(Zanan, Farvardin, 1379)

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