•In a statement issued in Tehran, the pro-reform society of the Islamic university professors denounced the February 20 elections as “unlawful,” because, it said, by eliminating competitions, a majority of the contests have already been decided. Ignoring the people's demands in the past few years has brought the democratic aspect of the Islamic regime under question, Georgetown University sociology professor and political activist Mehrdad Mashayekhi tells Radio Farda. Today, he adds, one faction says it would be happy if only less that 15 percent of voters turn out to vote. The regime, following what it considers the Chinese pattern, has moved to purge itself from any dissent, hoping to prop itself through better relations with the west. However, the positions of the US and EU on dialogue with Iran have been getting closer in the past two years; and the EU has announced that improvement in human rights is a condition of improving economic ties with Iran, he says. (Shireen Famili)
•One cannot be too proud of the elections in which the people's trust in the government has been destroyed, reformist daily Aftab-e Yazd writes. Though the conservatives believe that they will win in the elections, but not a single reformist believes there is any benefit to behind-the-scenes negotiations between the two factions, reformist daily Yaas-e Now writes. President Khatami is being hammered by radical reformists, because he did not go along with their demands, conservative daily Resalat writes. The upcoming Majles will be neither reformist nor conservative. It will be dominated by independent MPs, conservative Mashhad daily Qods writes. (Amir Armin)
•Thirty candidates started campaigning for Kerman's three Majles seats, editor of banned local daily Hadith Mohammad-Sadeq Taheri tells Radio Farda. Twenty-six of the candidates have declared themselves independent, while two are from the reformist faction and two from the conservative faction, he adds. The presence of reformists in the mix has created an atmosphere of real competition, he says, adding that no elections will be held in the earthquake-stricken Bam, according to the provincial governor. (Masoud Malek)
•With the reinstatement of reformist candidate Dr. Mohammad Farokhi, competition between the two factions has heated up in the central town of Jiroft, local journalist Shahram Parsa-Motlaq tells Radio Farda. However, political alliances in this town are influenced by ethnic and tribal links, he adds. (Farin Asemi)
•In the absence of major political figures, who have been banned from running in the elections by the Guardians Council, in Shiraz there is hardly any interest in the elections, local journalist Farid Yasamin tells Radio Farda. The candidates' slogans do not go beyond such clichés as bread, justice and housing, which do not reflect the real demands of the voters, he adds. (Jamshid Zand)
•The reformist candidates who have been approved by the Guardians Council to run in the elections, such as moderate reformist MPs Elias Hazrati, Jamileh Kadivar and Majid Ansari, say that by dropping out of the elections the reformists should not leave the Majles to the conservatives. Their position reveals a growing rift in the ranks of reformists, as MPs Ali-Akbar Mohtashami, Fatemeh Rakei and Shams Vahabi, along with hundreds of reformist and independent candidates who pulled out of the competition, no longer see any benefit in political participation. Reformist MP Fatemeh Rakei, who has been banned from reelection by the Guardians Council, and is among the 120 MPs who resigned, said the MPs plan to prevent the Majles from reaching a quorum in its final months. (Siavash Ardalan)
•There is no mention of the banned MPs and disqualified candidates in the Tehran press. The conservative newspapers played up the Supreme Leader's speech in their headlines, in which the voters were urged to turnout for the elections, but reformist daily Yaas-e Now's headline says the Participation Front has no candidate in these elections. (Arash Qavidel, Tehran)
•Of 290 Majles seats, at least 190 will go to the conservatives, who are running unchallenged, Berlin daily die tageszeitung writes. The real power in Iran resides not with the Supreme Leader, but with the conservative clerics who, in addition to receiving all kinds of government subsidies and tax exemptions, control major economic levers, including widespread smuggling of goods and drugs, it writes. (Parviz Farhang, Cologne)
http://www.radiofarda.com/transcripts/topstory/2004/02/20040214_1430_0131_0403_EN.asp"•In the absence of major political figures,... in Shiraz there is hardly any interest in the elections, local journalist Farid Yasamin tells Radio Farda. The candidates' slogans do not go beyond such clichés as bread, justice and housing, which do not reflect the real demands of the voters, he adds. (Jamshid Zand)"