Tehran representative in Parliament Alireza Zakani said a broad-based principlist alliance under the supervision of Ayatollah Mohammad Yazdi, Ayatollah Mohammad Taqi Mesbah Yazdi and Ayatollah Ali Movahedi Kermani is planned to be formed to lead efforts to foster unity among principlists with a view to gaining more votes in the upcoming elections.
The next Majlis and Assembly of Experts elections are scheduled to take place simultaneously on February 26, 2016.
On the process of forming the coalition and establishing a principlist coordinating council, Zakani said, “As I know, the Islamic Coalition Party, the Society of Devotees of the Islamic Revolution and the Resistance Front of the Islamic Revolution have held meetings over the past 10 months to forge maximum unity among principlists,” Fars News Agency reported.
Zakani explained that the alliance will focus on Islamic principles and values and all principlists can contribute to decision-making, planning and implementation of plans under the supervision of the three senior ayatollahs.
“In the next phase, the three groups will turn into three sides of one group, and representatives of the ayatollahs as well as others of the grouping, who may be invited [to join the bloc], will participate in their meetings,” he added.
Zakani said he believes principlists are doing better than previous in elections. In the last Majlis poll in 2012, they reached a compromise on such an alliance just three months before the election, but now a consensus has been achieved seven months before the vote.
A charter will be drawn up for the alliance, which will be presented to senior clerics and prominent figures for endorsement, to provide the basis for unity, according to Zakani.
The lawmaker believes principlists can introduce a list of candidates by October and expressed hope that candidates would be chosen based on merit not favoritism.
