On 28 May 1980, the revolutionary government of Iran commenced a new phase of consolidating the Islamic revolution of 1979. On this date, a legislature called the Islamic Consultative Assembly (ICA) held its first session, and since then, it has become a major institution of the Islamic Republic's political system. The centrality of ICA is demonstrated by the fact that it has had four uninterrupted elections (the latest in April 1992) with a tumover rafio of sixty percent for elected officials, higher than most parliamentary elections in the developed countries. Moreover, the parliament has also been a launching pad for the top echelon of the Iranian ruling elite in power today: the supreme leader, Ayatollah 'Ali Khamane'i (MP, 1980-81), the president, Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani (MP and speaker, 1980-88), the vice-president, Hasan Habibi (MP, 1980-84), the foreign minister, 'Ali Akbar Velayati (MP, 1980-81), and seven other members of the current council of ministers. In the first four-year period of legislative activities(1980-84), 804 legislations were proposed and debated, of which 365 were enacted. The parliament also approved 102 ministers for the cabinet, and rejected eight nominations.' These underline the point that the presence of this institution has been significant and too persistent to ignore.