Elaheh Rastgou Explained

Elaheh Rastgou
Birth Place:Malayer, Hamadan Province, Imperial State of Iran
Order1:Member of City Council of Tehran
Term Start1:3 September 2013
Term End1:22 August 2017
Majority1:179,982 (8.02%)
Order2:Member of the Parliament of Iran
Term Start2:7 February 1997
Term End2:26 May 2000
Constituency2:Malayer
Majority2:112,396 (44.6%)[1]
Party:Independent (since 2013)
Otherparty:
Alma Mater:Allameh Tabataba'i University

Elaheh Rastgou (Persian: الهه راستگو|lit=''The Veracious Goddess'') is an Iranian conservative-minded reformist politician who was formerly a member of City Council of Tehran and a Member of Parliament.

Career

Rastgou entered Islamic Consultative Assembly's 5th term in Malayer's 1997 by-election, defeating the incumbent Hassan Zamanifar. She was a sympathizer of Executives of Construction fraction at the time. In 2000 elections, she ran for a seat in Tehran, Rey, Shemiranat and Eslamshahr as Freethinkers' Pinnacle Party's candidate and was defeated.[2] Backed by reformist 'Coalition For Iran', she was defeated in 2004 from the same district. In 2008 parliamentary elections, she lost again while listed in both Islamic Iran Participation Front and National Trust Party endorsing lists.

She lost 2003 and 2006 elections of City Council of Tehran, but eventually won a seat in 2013 while being supported by reformists coalition.

2013 allegiance switch

A sudden switch of allegiance by Rastgou, reformist-backed member of the Tehran City Council, helped Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf to retain his seat by a vote margin of one. Following the vote, she was 'fired' from Islamic Labour Party because allegedly 'breaking her oath to vote for the reformist mayor'.[3]

In 2017, she officially joined the conservative alliance Popular Front of Islamic Revolution Forces.[4]

Electoral history

Year Election Votes % Rank Notes
1996Parliament By-election112,39644.61stWon
2000ParliamentNo Data Available Lost
2003City Council of Tehran19,0153.6141stLost[5]
2004Parliament 74,111 3.7638thLost
2006City Council of TehranNo Data Available Lost
2008Parliament Round 1 228,571 13.1237thWent to Round 2
Parliament Round 2 191,097 28.4716thLost
2012Parliament 90,003 4.2464thLost
2013City Council of Tehran 179,982 8.0210thWon[6]
2017City Council of Tehran 444,635N/A27thLost[7]

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Parliament members. Iranian Majlis. 28 October 2014. Persian.
  2. Web site: fa. Freethinkers Pinnacle Party. Baqir al-Ulum Research Institute. 21 August 2015. Mohammad Ali Zandi. 5 July 2011. https://web.archive.org/web/20110705205807/http://pajoohe.com/fa/index.php?Page=definition&UID=40437. dead.
  3. Web site: هیاهو برای یک رای/ پرونده‌ای درباره رای الهه راستگو. Khabar Online. 26 March 2015. 21 June 2013. Persian.
  4. Web site: Final Attempts toward a Principlist Coalition to Block Rouhani's Reelection. 25 February 2017. Iranian Diplomacy. 25 February 2017.
  5. Final election results of Islamic city council of Tehran. Ettela'at International. 3 March 2003. Page 4. 16 June 2017. New York City. Persian. 1353-8829.
  6. Web site: آگهی نتیجه انتخابات چهارمین دوره شورای اسلامی شهر تهران. Ministry of Interior. https://web.archive.org/web/20140903034136/http://media.isna.ir/content/agahi3.pdf. 3 September 2014. 10 February 2016. Persian. 18 July 2013.
  7. Web site: آگهی نتیجه انتخابات پنجمين دوره شورای اسلامی شهر تهران. Ministry of Interior. 22 May 2017. Persian. 21 May 2017. 22 May 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20170522111445/https://tehran.ostan-th.ir/Uploads/User/83/files/%d9%81%d8%b1%d9%85%2031_%d8%b4%d9%87%d8%b1%20%d8%aa%d9%87%d8%b1%d8%a7%d9%86%d8%8c%20%d8%b1%d9%8a%20%d9%88.pdf. dead.