With less than a week to the opening ceremony of the next Majlis, the two major parliamentary factions are to decide their candidates for the chairmanship of the 290-member body.
Principlists and the List of Hope, which is an alliance of reformists and government backers, constitute the two key factions of the next assembly.
Mohammad Ali Vakili, spokesman of the "Hope" faction comprising election winners included in the List of Hope, said on Friday that in a gathering of the faction on Wednesday, their candidate for Majlis speaker will be elected by the votes of members.
The newly-elected lawmaker said candidates for other posts in the 12-member presiding board of the Majlis will also be discussed in the meeting.
Vakili said if necessary, the meeting could be extended to Thursday.
On the same day, a principlist member of the next Majlis said their faction will hold a meeting, likely "within the next days", to choose their candidates for the presiding board of the parliament.
Seyyed Ehsan Qazizadeh Hashemi told Fars News Agency that voting will determine which members will be the candidates.
The recently-elected lawmaker said if the meeting could not be held until Thursday, it would convene on Saturday afternoon, after the opening of parliament.
Elections for the Majlis speakership are held annually and the winner can stand in the next elections.
There are media speculations that the head of the Reformist Policymaking Council and top vote-getter in Tehran, Mohammad Reza Aref, will be the candidate of the "Hope" faction and sitting Majlis Speaker Ali Larijani, a prominent principlist figure, will be the choice of principlists.
The closing session of the incumbent parliament will be held on May 24 and the next assembly will convene on May 28.
