Iran will hold elections to fill the remaining empty seats in parliament on the same day as next year's presidential polls, Interior Minister Abdol-Vahed Mussavi-Lari said Monday.
He told parliament, which voted to approve the measure in a session carried live on state radio, that the balloting would be held during the May 29 presidential vote as an "economizing measure."
The conservative-led oversight Guardians Council had earlier said that, according to the constitution, the vote to fill the empty seats should be held no later than five months after last June's run-off vote.
The new reform-majority parliament took office in May but 18 seats in the 290-member legislature remain unfilled after results in some districts were annulled.
Another vacancy was created after former president Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani resigned after only narrowly winning a seat in the elections, which were marked by political squabbling and several recounts.
President Mohammad Khatami has said he will run for a second four-year term next year, the limit for the Iranian presidency under the constitution, but that decision has not yet been made official -- TEHRAN (AFP)
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