Mohammad Reza Aref, the top vote-getter in the recent Majlis polls in Tehran constituency, was elected chairman of the parliamentary faction “Hope”. In a meeting of the General Assembly of the faction, which comprises reformists and government backers, Aref easily won the race for leadership in the absence of another contender. According to IRNA, nine other members of the permanent presiding board of the faction were also picked by members who voted in the meeting. The presiding board is expected to convene today to pick the spokesman, deputy chairman and secretaries. The alliance of reformists and pro-government forces, the List of Hope, could earn the simple majority of votes in the two rounds of Majlis elections in February and April. However, members of the alliance failed to take the majority of top positions in the assembly, including those in the presiding board of the chamber and the seats of heads of commissions.
Aref refused to run in the race for Majlis speakership, as he was defeated in an initial vote by his principlist rival, Ali Larijani, who was later reelected speaker.
