Iran’s Interior Ministry began screening some 8,200 prospective candidates Sunday for February legislative elections, state-run Tehran radio reported.
| You have to get a note from your mullah to run for office. Despite the presence in the halls once graced by Daniel Webster of Patty Murray, I still don't think it's a good thing. |
The list of candidates approved by the ministry must be ratified by the hard-line Guardian Council, however, and, in the past, the council has disqualified those seen as opposing the absolute rule of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Reformers, who have long sought social and political change in Iran, fear the council may disqualify many of their candidates. The political landscape has been dominated by hard-line clerics since the 1979 Islamic revolution deposed the U.S.-backed shah. Reformist leaders also have threatened a boycott of the election, which could result in conservatives regaining control of the 290-member parliament. In the February 2000 elections the conservatives lost control, winning less than a third of the seats.
| I imagine the fix is in for the next round... |
The upcoming polls will be a crucial test for Iran’s frustrated reform movement, which has faced constant opposition from various state-run authorities and been deflated by the perceived failure of reformist-backed President Mohammad Khatami to fulfill election promises to liberalize the country. About 8,200 prospective candidates registered throughout Iran during the past week, with 1,742 signing up for the 30 seats allocated for the capital, Tehran, the radio reported. The reformist-dominated Interior Ministry will screen the candidates to make sure they hold Iranian nationality and, at a minimum, a university degree or the religious equivalent for clerics. Candidates must also be between 30 and 75 years old, and not belong to an armed opposition group or be a former member of the government of Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi. The Interior Ministry allows hopefuls of various political inclinations to stand for election, including those critical of Khamenei and who support curbing his powers.
| But not those who support curbing theirs... |
But the conservative Guardian Council demands that all prospective candidates recognize the religious establishment’s strict interpretation of the powers held by Khamenei, who hard-liners believe is above the law and answerable only to God.
| It's called divine right monarchy, only without the expensive wardrobe... |
The hard-line controlled judiciary has repeatedly punished students and activists for criticizing Khamenei. After reformists scored massive gains at the last elections, hard-liners responded with a campaign against liberals, closing down about 100 reformist publications and jailing dozens of journalists and political activists. Deputy Interior Minister Morteza Moballegh vowed last week to defend the rights of prospective candidates, saying his ministry won’t allow the Guardian Council to arbitrarily disqualify candidates without solid evidence. The council has in the past refused to provide evidence or give reasons for disqualifying candidates.
| Yeah, well, keep an eye on the airports for the ZANU-PF poll watchers flying in from ZimBobWe... |
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