Iran's Khamenei calls for mass voter turnout
Friday, February 13, 2004 - ©2003 IranMania.com
TEHRAN, Feb 13 (AFP) -- Supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei called on Friday for Iranians to turn out in force to vote in next week's parliamentary election and defeat what he called the enemies of the Islamic revolution.
"The people, for their own sake, for that of the country and the (Islamic) regime, must go to vote and ensure these elections are enthusiastically backed," Khamenei told tens of thousands of faithful gathered for traditional Friday prayers at Tehran University.
"Some people in the world, who do not want the welfare of our people, were seeking for these elections not to be held or be well supported," Khamenei said about the February 20 poll in remarks carried on state radio.
Iranian reformists had called for the elections to be postponed after the conservative Guardians Council vetting body barred thousands of candidates -- mainly reformists -- from the elections.
Some reformist parties have said they will boycott the poll.
"Our enemies have done everything against the revolution and have failed. Today they are seeking to create a gulf between the people and the leaders, but these elections are a response to the enemy who will learn that the people firmly defend their country and their regime," Khamenei added.
He strongly denounced some European parliaments who have criticised the massive barring of reform candidates.
"Certain European parliaments have gone beyond the limits. If their intervention was confined to simple words, it would be unimportant ... but if these words are transformed into interferance in our internal affairs, the people will given them an unforgettable lesson," he said.
"The elections are a barrier against the enemies ... People should go and vote en masse so the elections are held majestically," said Khamenei.
Implicitly criticising some reformists, he said they had tried to "discourage the voters, playing the game of the enemies" of the Islamic Republic.
Khamenei has intervened several times in the political crisis into which Iran plunged after the Guardians Council announced the banning in January, as the republic was preparing to celebrate its 25 anniversary.
It was he who insisted that the reformist-dominated government of President Mohammad Khatami go ahead and organise the elections.
On Friday, eight reformist parties announced they had set up a "Coalition for Iran" to contest the poll, the bloc's spokesman Ali Akbar Mohtashami-Pur, said, cited by the student news agency ISNA.
Among the parties are that of President Khatami, the Association of Religious Combattants.
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