Candidates are gradually beginning to register to run in Iran’s upcoming city council elections, which are to be held concurrently with the May 19 presidential vote.

The contest for the powerful Tehran City Council has always been one of the most controversial in Iran. During the past decade or so, the conservatives have been able to hold the majority, but this year, Reformists and allied moderates are determined to seize power by focusing on the weak spots of the ruling council.

The Tehran City Council elects the Tehran mayor, who oversees the Tehran municipality — the largest, most wealthy and influential municipality in the country. For instance, the Tehran municipality budget in 2015 was $5.73 billion, while the corresponding budget for the country’s second largest city, Tabriz, was a mere $924 million. As such, it should be noted that in the past decade or so, the mayorship has been used as a stepping stone to launch bids for the presidency — by former President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in 2005, and by incumbent Tehran Mayor Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf in 2013.

The conservative-dominated Tehran City Council has in recent months come under increasing fire over events that are blamed on mismanagement and corruption on the part of the Tehran municipality, which is headed by Ghalibaf.