As Iran returns to business after the Nowruz holidays, lawmakers are resuming discussions on a controversial draft motion that has the potential to alter parliamentary politics.  

The proposed bill, which was first brought to the floor by 120 parliamentarians last November, calls for parliamentary elections to be held at provincial levels. At present, constituencies commonly cover towns and cities. The draft motion proposes that individuals who run for parliament must first obtain 15-20% of votes in their town or city. They then must again run at the provincial level, where they need to receive the highest number of votes to gain entry to the legislature. Another article of the motion stipulates that apart from individual candidates running for office, political parties can also publish and promote lists of candidates.

The proposal has so far drawn varied reactions from both ends of the Iranian political spectrum.  

Hassan Lotfi, a parliamentarian representing the small town of Razan in the northwestern province of Hamedan, has listed soaring campaign costs as well as the increasing role of “dirty” money in politics as among the likely disadvantages of the proposed legislation. Meanwhile, Mohammad-Reza Mansouri, a lawmaker from the town of Saveh in Markazi province, has also opposed the draft legislation, saying that “the proposed method of elections would sideline towns and small cities, deprive locals in these regions of having a say in the country’s overall affairs and fuel the sense of disappointment among them.” Parliamentarian Jalal Mahmoudzadeh from Mahabad, a city that is home to many Iranian Kurds and Azeris, warned against “security matters that the proposal would activate across ethnic, religious and tribal fault lines.”