TEHRAN – Iranian lawmakers held a vote on Tuesday morning to elect the speaker of the Parliament and his aides. The majority of lawmakers decided to retain Qalibaf in his position.

During an open session of the parliament, the legislators voted to choose members of the parliament’s presiding board, Tasnim reported.

Qalibaf remained in the post by garnering the most votes, beating Elyas Naderan and Fereydoon Abbasi. Qalibaf won 210 votes.

Abdolreza Mesri and Mojtaba Zolnouri, were also elected as the first and second vice speakers respectively. Mesri won 158 votes and Zolnouri 152.

The Iranian Parliament currently has 290 representatives, changed from the previous 272 seats since the February 18, 2000 election. The last parliamentary polls were held in February 2019.

The lawmakers take the seats for a four-year term.

Qalibaf is pushing for an overhaul of the governance system. He has broached the idea of “new governance,” which aims to address some of the shortcomings.

Qalibaf said in mid-May that Iran needs to overhaul its governance system in accordance with a strategic declaration by the Leader of the Islamic Revolution, Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei.

Speaking at a gathering in Tehran, Qalibaf said, “Today, all thinkers and experts, world powers and all the countries of the world and national governments on the planet believe that they are on the verge of changing the world order. We must know where we stand in this change of world order and where we should be, and without a doubt, we should be in a better position than in the past, both in the regional and international fields.”

He added, “We must know where we are and we must know our road map and we need a transformation in our governance system in various economic, political, and defense and security fields. And we need new governance based on the second step of the Revolution.”

Qalibaf was referring to the declaration of the second step of the Revolution, which was issued by Ayatollah Khamenei.

“We must strengthen our strengths and overcome our weaknesses,” he said, according to Tasnim. “We must define common and limited priorities. We have lost so much time that we don't have time to advance this plan according to arbitrary methods. Even in the method of reaching the goals, we have to find a consensus in order to be successful in the 7th Plan,” he added, referring to the Seventh Development Plan that is expected to be tabled at the Parliament for review. The plan is a long-term program that aims to achieve development.