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Politics : Politics for Pros- moderated -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Lane3 who wrote (23853)	1/11/2004 11:16:03 AM
From: LindyBill	Respond to of 793843

The Clerics get to veto the list. BBC Iran reformists barred from polls Hundreds of reformist candidates in Iran have been barred from standing in general elections next month by an unelected conservative body. Reformists walked out of parliament on Sunday to protest against the ruling - they also plan to hold a sit-in. More than half of the 1,700 candidates registered have reportedly been disqualified by the Guardian Council. They include the brother of President Khatami, who is head of the country's largest reform party, the IIPF. If this decision is upheld, there will not be elections but designations Mohsen Mirdamadi Reformist MP The 12-member Guardian Council, made up of six clerics and six Islamic lawyers, is empowered to ensure parliament's actions comply with Islamic principles. Prominent Iranian reformist MP Mohsen Mirdamadi accused Tehran's hardliners of staging a "coup d'etat" by "non-military means". "If this decision is upheld, there will not be elections but designations," he said. Two other senior members of the Islamic Iran Participation Front, Behzad Nabavi and Fatemeh Haqiqatjou, and well-known womens' rights activist Elaheh Koulaiee, have also been told they cannot stand. The BBC's Jim Muir, in Tehran, says President Khatami is under pressure from reformers to resign if appeals against the council's decision fail. Right-wing body Iran's parliament - the Majlis - is dominated by the reformists who have won all major national elections since 1997. But it is the 12-member Guardian Council, a highly conservative body, that has the power to decide who can and cannot stand for public office - a power parliament has tried and failed to end. The council is under pressure from right-wing quarters not to back down and allow another reformist-dominated parliament to emerge, our correspondent says. No official announcement has been made about the exact number of disqualifications as would-be candidates are being informed individually. But local press reports said that just over half the people who presented themselves in the Tehran constituency have been turned down. High-level talks The Speaker of parliament, Mehdi Karroubi, whose application has been approved, expressed regret at the disqualifications. He said he and President Khatami had been engaged in many contacts with the country's Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, with the Council of Guardians itself and other leaders to try to avert a crisis. President Khatami said earlier that, if there were a large number of questionable disqualifications, he would use his constitutional powers to try to redress the situation. But those who have been turned down still have the right to appeal to the Guardian Council itself, so the final list of candidates will not actually be known until early February. Story from BBC NEWS: news.bbc.co.uk Published: 2004/01/11 11:46:32 GMT © BBC MMIV