TEHRAN -- Deputy Interior Minister Mohammad-Hossein Mousapur said on Thursday that for each parliament seat 16 candidates will compete.

Stating that 4,500 hopefuls have been approved to run, Mousapur said next month’s legislative election would be more competitive than the previous ones.
In Tehran, 850 hopefuls have been allowed to run which means for each seat of the 30 seats for the constituency, 29 persons will compete.
In this election more candidates have been qualified, he told reporters at a press conference.
The trend of reinstatements may continue and more candidates would probably be approved, he said.
The official went on to say that endorsed candidates have until February 27 to change their current constituencies.
Mousapur went on to say that the Guardian Council has agreed to electronic vote counting alongside hand counting in all constituencies except those which have one or two seats in Majlis.
Electronic vote counting will be held just to test the required software and hardware, he added.
Unlike the traditional system, in electronic system there will be no possibility of ballot rigging and the election would be completely fair, he explained.
‘Table of Parties’ signifies government’s trust in parties
Ali-Akbar Mortazavi-Kiasari, chairman of the electoral supervisory commission of Iran’s House of Parties, said on Tuesday that the establishment of the Table of Parties in the Interior Ministry indicates that the government has accepted the political parties and the Interior Ministry has trusted them.
An office in the Interior Ministry, dubbed ‘Table of Parties’, has been allocated to the representatives of various political parties to monitor the 14 March elections.
House of Parties has held negotiations with Mousapur and Interior Minister Mostafa Purmohammadi so that its representatives can monitor voting process in ballot stations, but to no avail, he said.
UFF candidates should not be on other slates
The United Fundamentalist Front executive secretary Shahabeddin Sadr Saturday appreciated the efforts made by the executive and supervisory committees as well as the Guardian Council during the vetting process, saying that their good performance has led into creating a truly competitive election atmosphere.
UFF central committee has decided that its candidates should not be included in the lists of other conservative movements which intend to compete against the front, Sadr told the UFF fourth press conference.
Two of the candidates on the UFF Tehran slate have withdrawn their candidacy, he said.
UFF is negotiating with the umbrella coalition of fundamentalist groups, so that they can release a single slate, Sadr pointed out.
UFF secretary Ali-Reza Zakani predicted that fundamentalists will hold the majority in the next parliament.
Speaking at the same gathering, the sitting MP said that according to some recent opinion polls, most of people are inclined to vote for fundamentalist groups.
Economic issues should be next parliament’ first priority
Addressing economic problems should be a top priority in the next parliament, MP Mohammad Khoshchehreh Tuesday told during a debate held in Tehran University.
Legislative candidates should have clear transparent plans, he insisted.
“In our parliaments political issues have priority over scientific criteria in approving various plans,” he regretted