Iran Govt May Quit Over Election Row, Official Says
Tue January 13, 2004 03:16 AM ET
By Paul Hughes
TEHRAN (Reuters) -
A senior Iranian official has warned President Mohammad Khatami's government may resign if it cannot persuade hard-liners to overturn a decision to bar hundreds of liberal candidates from a national election, the official IRNA news agency reported Tuesday.
One liberal newspaper reported that Khatami himself may step down if the decision, which barred around 80 of parliament's sitting 290 MPs from running in the election, forces the February 20 parliamentary vote to be called off.
However, a government source denied the newspaper report that Khatami could resign.
"If the government becomes impotent in securing the legitimate freedoms of the nation, it loses its legitimacy, and then, whether it dissolves itself or not, it is automatically dissolved," IRNA quoted Vice President Mohammad Satarifar as saying.
Satarifar, who heads the state Management and Planning Office, said Khatami's government had been in a state of shock since the unelected hardline Guardian Council announced on Sunday it had vetoed about half of aspiring candidates for election.
But he said the government "still hopes it can eliminate the difficulties and safeguard national interests properly."
The liberal Etemad newspaper reported Tuesday that President Khatami was ready to quit over the political standoff.
The paper reported that Khatami sent a message to reformist MPs staging a sit-in protest in parliament, which was read out by liberal MP Jalil Sazgarnejad.
"I will wait for one week so that things go back to normal. Otherwise, if elections cannot be held, I will step down from my position," Etemad reported the message from Khatami said.
Officials at Khatami's office had no immediate comment on the report.
State governors have also threatened to quit if the Guardian Council does not back down.
The political crisis is seen as a key test of Khatami's resolve. The Guardian Council's decision highlighted his government's relative impotence compared with the power enjoyed by unelected conservatives who also control the judiciary, armed forces and state media.
Khatami, who since winning power in a 1997 election has run into objections to his reforms at almost every turn from hard-liners, has called the Guardian Council's decision "senseless."
But he has stressed that the issue should be resolved peacefully, through negotiations and legal processes.
Reformist MP Abolfazl Shakouri called on the president to take a tougher stand.
"President Khatami, I'm calling on you to defend the constitution and people's freedom," he said at the start of a parliamentary session Tuesday, broadcast live on state radio.
"You cannot defend people's rights with ambiguous statements," he added.
Reformist MPs attending the regular legislative session on Tuesday morning -- two days after they walked out of parliament's chamber in disgust at the Guardian Council's move -- said they would resume their sit-in protest later in the day. (Additional reporting by Parinoosh Arami, Amir Paivar)
http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=topNews&storyID=4115857Iranian conservatives reject 3,605 candidates
Tuesday, January 13, 2004 - ©2003 IranMania.com
TEHRAN, Jan 12 (AFP) - A conservative-controlled Iranian political watchdog has rejected 44.2 percent of candidates hoping to contest next month's parliamentary election, the interior ministry said Monday.
According to the reformist-run ministry, charged with organising the February 20 poll, the electoral vetting arm of the Guardians Council disqualified 3,605 out of the 8,157 people who registered to stand as MPs.
In a statement, the ministry said 434 of them had already been rejected by its own screening system.
But among those rejected by the Council were 84 MPs who are currently in the parliament, or Majlis. It said most were blacklisted for non-respect of Islam and the position of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei as supreme leader.
Reformists have accused the Guardians Council of systematically barring reformists from standing, in what one senior MP has branded a "coup d'etat".
Late on Sunday, the interior ministry said the massive disqualifications were "illegal" and warned that they would not be enforced, therefore throwing the whole electoral process into chaos.
http://www.iranmania.com/News/ArticleView/Default.asp?NewsCode=21583&NewsKind=Current%20AffairsIran govt should quit unless crisis solved: V.P.
Tuesday, January 13, 2004 - ©2003 IranMania.com
TEHRAN, Jan 12 (AFP) - One of Iran's vice-presidents, Mohammad Satarifar, said Monday the entire government should stand down if it proves unable to reverse a move by powerful conservatives to disqualify large numbers of reformists from contesting next month's parliamentary elections.
"If the government considers it cannot meet its obligation to protect the rights of citizens and organise free elections, staying in office is not an option," Satarifar was quoted as saying by the state news agency IRNA.
"The government is not obliged to organise elections in which the results are known in advance," he added, admitting that the reformist government of President Mohammad Khatami was in "shock" over the massive barring of reformists from contesting the February 20 elections.
On Sunday, the conservative-held Guardians Council, a 12-member political oversight body that vets all legislation and also screens candidates for public office, sparked a major political crisis when it moved to bar thousands of prospective Majlis candidates.
Those barred included 84 sitting reformist MPs and other moderate candidates.
According to a source close to President Khatami, more than ten cabinet members have already prepared their letters of resignation, while all of Iran's 27 provincial governors also threatened to quit unless the crisis is resolved within a week.
http://www.iranmania.com/News/ArticleView/Default.asp?NewsCode=21586&NewsKind=Current%20Affairs Note: it all looks like a setup game to me
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