TEHRAN - The spokesman for the Guardian Council wrote on his Twitter account late on Saturday that competency of the candidates for the parliamentary elections will be studied according to the constitution.

Abass Ali Kadkhodaei, who also serves as the deputy secretary-general of the council, wrote that time for registration of candidates ended on Saturday evening and "more than 16,000 candidates register for the 11th parliamentary election." 

He said, "Monitoring and executive teams will review competency of the registered candidates and will announce the final list according to the constitution."  

On December 1, Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Ali Khamenei advised potential parliamentary candidates not to run for the elections “if you don’t have management capabilities.”

Jamal Orf, the Interior Ministry director for election headquarters, announced on Sunday that 248 sitting MPs and 633 former MPs have registered to run for parliament.

The Leader criticized the way many people register for the elections, saying now that potential candidates can register for the parliamentary elections, a lot of people go ahead and register without hesitation.

Every responsibility or position requires certain commitments, Ayatollah Khamenei said. 

“You have to see if you can make that commitment,” Ayatollah Khamenei said.

The Interior Ministry started registering candidates for the parliamentary elections on December 8. It ended on December 7.

The election will be held on February 21, 2020.

The elections will be held in over 200 constituencies across the country’s 31 provinces.

The Guardian Council will release the names of candidates deemed eligible to run by December 18.

Disqualified candidates will have four days to object to the Guardian Council, after which the council will study complaints and announce the final list on February 11. 

The candidates will have 8 days to spend on the campaign trail, ending on February 19, and then the elections will be held on February 21.

MJ/PA