Iran's reformers yesterday completed their sweep of major urban centres in parliamentary polls, surging to an insurmountable lead in Tehran and sealing their grip on the new assembly.
But the broad range of views within the reform coalition and institutional weakness of the parliament itself were expected to complicate efforts to turn the voters' mandate into concrete social and political change.
Preliminary results from the capital, which has 30 seats, showed reformers on track to take some 28 of them, led by Dr Mohammad Reza Khatami, leader of the Islamic Iran Participation Front and brother of moderate state President Mohammad Khatami.
With 15 per cent of the Tehran ballot counted, Dr Khatami, a Western-trained kidney specialist turned political leader, had built a commanding lead, leading the nearest competitor by 80,000 votes.
President Khatami's allies have already won more than 100 seats in the provinces in Friday's polls for the 290-member assembly. Conservatives trailed with about 43. More than 50 seats have gone to Independents, many of whom are claimed by reformists and conservatives. Some 60 seats will be decided in run-offs.
Most of the conservatives elected to the new parliament, to convene in May, are of moderate leanings, with many hardline incumbents thrown out of office by angry voters. The elections were widely seen as a test of popular support for Mr Khatami's liberal reforms, which have in the past two years faced strong resistance from hardline conservatives.
A solid pro-reform majority could boost his efforts to create a civil society within Iran's Islamic system and to accelerate his policy of detente with the West, something even conservatives were prepared to concede.
"In effect, people voted to pave the way for Mr Khatami to fulfil his promises and slogans," Mr Assadollah Badamchian, a leader of a right-wing faction, told the Resalat daily.
However, the incoming reformers are united in only the most general terms, and there are deep divisions over such volatile issues as civil liberties and personal freedom - issues that voters appeared to care about most. The first test of the new assembly will be the election of speaker.
The poor performance of the conservatives' main champion, the former president, Mr Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, appears to have damaged his prospects for the top parliamentary job. Early returns in Tehran put him in 27th place, facing a likely run-off. That could open the way to a divisive struggle among the reformers, who had expected Mr Rafsanjani to capture a Tehran seat with ease and breeze into the speaker's post.
Reformist candidates had earlier swept to victory in the major cities, including Mashhad, home to Iran's holiest shrine and long seen as a conservative stronghold. They took all five seats in Isfahan, Iran's most polarised city, and three of four in the southern city of Shiraz, with the final race going to a run-off between reformers.
In Tehran, Iran's political showcase, the size of the reformists' emerging victory exceeded even their most confident predictions. Only Mr Rafsanjani and one other conservative have managed to crack the top 30 so far, although millions of ballots remained to be counted.
In second place behind Dr Mohammad Reza Khatami was Ms Jamileh Kadivar, top woman vote-getter in last year's Tehran city council race and sister of jailed clerical dissident Mohsen Kadivar. Mr Alireza Nouri, brother of another jailed cleric, was in fifth. Final results for Tehran were not expected for several days.