TEHRAN - Interior Minister Mostafa Purmohammadi here on Saturday gave statistical figures about the number of those who registered as parliament hopefuls.

Friday was the deadline for signing up for elections. Elections will be held on March 14.
Although the number of those who had registered through the Interior Ministry's website is 10,418 the total number of the citizens who have managed to complete the registration process is 7,200, Purmohammadi told a press conference.
He said women account for 590 of the registered candidates, while the number of men is 6,600.
""One third of candidates signed up on Friday which indicates how people cut things fine,"" the minister complained.
31.5 percent of the registered had participated in the 1980-1988 imposed war, he said, adding that 40 percent had MA and 14 percent PhD.
Also, 17 people from the religious minorities have registered as candidates, Purmohammadi noted.
About using posters as well as other new ways of electoral campaign such as sending SMS and E-mail, he said they are not legally banned.
Eligible voters
The minister said over 43 million people are eligible to vote in parliamentary elections.
Free elections
He said the observation of law is the only way to guarantee free and fair elections.
“Except observing law we don’t see any other criterion for a healthy and sound election,” the minister insisted.
Vetting process
Meanwhile, Deputy Interior Minister Mohammad-Hossein Musapur said the vetting process of registered candidates began on Saturday.
“The vetting process would last 10 days,” he told the Mehr News Agency.
On January 22, the registered would be informed whether they are qualified for the candidacy or not, he said, adding that they are also entitled to protest the screening from Jan. 23 to 26.
The disqualified ones are provided the opportunity to protest again on February 3 to 22, he pointed out.
The final list of candidates, whose qualification have been confirmed, will be released on March 5 and candidates are allowed to start campaigning from March 6 to 12, the official stated