TEHRAN — Moderate Iranian politicians barred from participating in upcoming parliamentary elections vowed Thursday to fight the disqualifications and threatened to boycott the vote.
Iranian authorities this week barred nearly one-third of the 7,240 candidates who had applied to run in March 14 legislative elections. Officials said some of those disqualified were involved in embezzlement or fraud, sympathized with terrorist groups or had a "tendency toward perverted cults."
But those banned included many members of the so-called reformist camp who tried to change Iran's political culture in the late 1990s and who are hoping to wrest at least one branch of government from conservative hard-liners. They vowed to challenge the rejections by the Guardian Council, a committee of six clerics and six lawyers that vets all political candidates and laws for adherence to Islamic principles.
"Now only 30% of our candidates are able to stand, which does not guarantee a fair and free election," said Ismail Gerami-Moghadam, a lawmaker with the National Trust, a reform group headed by former presidential candidate Mehdi Karroubi. "We will wait 10 days from now to see the result of our petitions for requalification. Then we'll decide whether to participate or boycott the election."
Among those barred were 190 of 200 candidates of the main reform group, the Islamic Participation Front; 230 of about 300 National Trust candidates; and all candidates of the Islamic Revolution Mujahedin Organization.
Rejected candidates have until Sunday to file appeals with supreme leader Ali Khamenei, who has been unsympathetic to the reformists' cause and refused to reverse disqualifications before the 2004 elections. A final list of candidates will be issued March 5.
Khamenei heads a theocratic Shiite Muslim state with elements of a democratic republic, including regular elections for parliament and the presidency. The political elite pride themselves on high voter turnout, and a boycott could harm the election's credibility. Iranian authorities have ruled out allowing international observers to monitor the election.
Iran's leadership is divided among several factions, including a hard-line conservative group around President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, a so-called pragmatic faction close to former President Hashemi Rafsanjani and a moderate wing represented by ex-President Mohammad Khatami.
