1980 Iranian legislative election

Iranian legislative election, 1980

14 March 1980 9 May 1980

First party Second party Third party   Leader Mohammad Beheshti Party IRP IRP allies Independents Last election - Seats won 85 45 140

Prime Minister before election Mehdi Bazargan Freedom Movement of Iran Elected Prime Minister Mohammad-Ali Rajai Islamic Republican Party

Parliamentary elections were held in Iran on 13 March 1980, with a second round on 9 May. They were the first elections to the Majlis since the overthrow of the Shah, and resulted in a victory for the Islamic Republican Party, which won 85 of the 270 seats, whilst its allies who a further 45. 137 of the elected MPs were clerics.

Electoral system

The constitution approved in a December 1979 referendum provided for a 270-seat Majlis, with five seats reserved for minority groups including Jews, Zorastrians, Armenians from the north and south of the country and one jointly elected by Assyrians and Chaldeans.

As there was no electoral law at the time of the elections, they were held in accordance with a proposal from the Ministry of the Interior and approved by the Council of the Revolution. However, the elections were postponed in 23 constituencies in Kurdistan and Balochistan.

Results

Party	Votes	%	Seats
Islamic Republican Party			85
Islamic Republican Party allies			45
Freedom Movement of Iran			0
Freedom Movement of Iran allies			0
Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan			0
Independents			140
Invalid/blank votes		–	–
Total	10,874,470	100	270
Registered voters/turnout	21,749,000	50.00	–
Source: Nohlen et al