IRAN: About a dozen senior Iranian government officials are ready to quit if powerful hardliners do not overturn a decision barring hundreds of reformists from running in parliamentary elections, reformist MPs said yesterday.
The MPs, who declined to be identified, said the list of those prepared to resign included four of Iran's six vice-presidents and six ministers.
The threat raised the stakes in the struggle between hardliners and reformists and may also increase pressure on President Mohammad Khatami, a reformist, to step down in solidarity with his colleagues, analysts said.
The hardline Guardian Council announced on Sunday that about half of the 8,200 aspiring candidates for the February 20th parliamentary vote had been disqualified.
Until now President Khatami has tended to avoid confrontation with hardliners who have blocked his reform attempts.
"Pressure is growing on Khatami to take a stand. But I doubt he will resign," said one political analyst.
The decision by the Guardian Council, a conservative constitutional watchdog comprising clerics and Islamic lawyers, has highlighted the relative impotence of President Khatami's government. Unelected hardliners also control Iran's judiciary, armed forces and state media.
About 80 members of the 290-seat parliament, including its two deputy speakers, have been ruled out of the election race.
Vice-President Mohammad Satarifar told the official IRNA news agency the government might as well resign if it could not guarantee a fair election. State governors have also threatened to quit.
Conservative MPs issued a statement describing the process of vetting candidates as a "legal, normal and wise issue".
"Disqualifying those who do not qualify to serve as the nation's representatives is not a violation of people's rights, it safeguards their rights," they said.
Barred candidates have two chances to appeal their disqualification before campaigning starts on February 12th.
The parliament's speaker, Mr Mehdi Karroubi, said yesterday he hoped for results from ongoing talks with the Guardian Council to try to persuade the body to reconsider.
Disqualified MPs, dozens of whom have been holding a protest sit-in at parliament since Sunday, called on the council to make public documents explaining why they had been barred.
Many of those excluded were accused of showing insufficient commitment to Islam and Iran's system of clerical rule.
Blocked at almost every turn by hardliners, liberal MPs and Mr Khatami have made repeated threats to resign in recent years. But the threats have so far not been carried out, devaluing their impact.
"They've threatened to quit or boycott the elections so many times now that few believe them and even fewer care," said one European diplomat.
He said the mass vetting of candidates was the hardliners' response to losing control of parliament in 2000. Then, only 8 per cent of candidates were weeded out before the vote, and reformists won nearly 70 per cent of seats.
"They wanted to make sure this time and they calculated that there wouldn't be a massive public outcry, which there hasn't been," the diplomat said.
Disillusioned by President Khatami's failure to deliver on promises to enforce the rule of law, ease social restrictions and raise living standards, many of Iran's disproportionately youthful population have lost faith in the reformist movement.
- (Reuters)