1979 Iranian Constitutional Assembly election in East Azerbaijan province

East Azerbaijan election
3 August 1979 (1979-08-03)
All 6 Seats to the Assembly for the Final Review of the Constitution
  Majority party Minority party
 
Leader Mohammad Kazem Shariatmadari Mohammad Beheshti
Party MPRP IRP
Seats won
4 / 6
2 / 6
Defeated lsts

On 3 August 1979, a Constitutional Convention election was held in East Azerbaijan Province (also encompassing the present-day Ardabil Province) with plurality-at-large voting format in order to decide all six seats for the Assembly for the Final Review of the Constitution.

The result was a relative victory for the Muslim People's Republic Party (MPRP) over the Islamic Republican Party (IRP). A stronghold of Mohammad Kazem Shariatmadari supporters, it was one of the few constituencies where Khomeinist candidates did not end up winning a landslide. Out of the six seats up for the election, four went to those endorsed by the MPRP while the IRP had listed three winners (one candidates was supported by both). Lay candidates supported by groups such as the Freedom Movement of Iran and the Movement of Militant Muslims were defeated. Khomeini published a fatwa banning the People's Mujahedin of Iran from government elections.[1][2] Secular nationalists and communists could not receive more than 3% of the votes.

Results

1979 Constitutional Convention election: East Azerbaijan Province
Party Candidate Votes %
MPRP Jafar Sobhani[a] 786,986 87.52
MPRP Mohammad-Ali Angaji[b][c][d] 580,854 64.60
MPRP Jafar Eshraghi[b] 560,793 62.37
MPRP Rahmatollah Moghaddam Maraghei[b] 458,733 51.02
IRP Abolfazl Mousavi Tabrizi 446,643 49.67
IRP Ali Meshkini[e][f] 431,262 47.96
MPRP Ahmad Alizadeh Khoi[b] 419,601 46.66
MPRP Abolfath Abolfathi[b] 372,233 41.40
IRP Mohammad-Ali Sadat 261,667 29.10
IRP Seyyed Mehdi Golabi 196,738 21.88
IRP Asghar Neishabouri 181,474 20.18
— Mohammad Milani-Hosseini[g][h][i] 124,744 13.87
PMOI Ahmad Hanifnejad[j] 76,173 8.47
PMOI Hossein Khosrowshahi[j] 27,966 3.11
MMM Hassan Efekhar-Ardebili[i] 26,417 2.94
NPI Mirjavad Mousavi-Khalkhali 20,915 2.33
— Saeid Rajaei-Khorasani[g][h] 19,504 2.17
OIPGF Nematollah Mohammadi-Golehini 17,451 1.94
Tudeh Party Hossein Joudat 6,728 0.75
Tudeh Party Anoushirvan Ebrahimi 6,204 0.69
NF Mohsen Firouzmand-Khalkhali 4,889 0.54
JC Bagher Mortazavi Khosrowshahi 2,652 0.29
— Ali Moghaddam 1,952 0.22
— Mohammad-Bagher Sadri 1,183 0.13
NF Jalal Ghanizadeh[d] 1,142 0.13
— Mashallah Talachian 1,141 0.13
SWPI Mahmoud Seirafizadeh 539 0.06
NF Manouchehr Malek-Ghassemi 447 0.05
Total votes 899,181 100
  1. ^ Also supported by the Islamic Republican Party
  2. ^ a b c d e Also supported by the Radical Movement of Iran
  3. ^ Also supported by the National Front
  4. ^ a b Also supported by Besharat Political Group (gorūḥ-e sīāsī-e bešārat).
  5. ^ Also supported by the Movement of Muslim Women (neḥzat-e zanān-e mosalmān).
  6. ^ Also supported by Malek Ashtar Monotheistic Organization (sāzmān-e tohīdī-ye mālek-e aštar).
  7. ^ a b Also supported by the Freedom Movement of Iran
  8. ^ a b Also supported by the Movement of Militant Muslims
  9. ^ a b Also supported by the Muslim Students of the University of Tabriz
  10. ^ a b Supported by the Quintuple Coalition
Source: "Election Results" (PDF), Enghelab-e-Eslami, no. 42, p. 3, 9 August 1979

References

  1. ^ Cohen, Ronen (2009). The Rise and Fall of the Mojahedin Khalq, 1987-1997: Their Survival After the Islamic Revolution and Resistance to the Islamic Republic of Iran. Sussex Academic Press. p. 15. ISBN 978-1845192709.
  2. ^ Katzman, Kenneth (2001). "Iran: The People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran". In Benliot, Albert V. (ed.). Iran: Outlaw, Outcast, Or Normal Country?. Nova. p. 101. ISBN 978-1-56072-954-9.