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Iranian Committee Rejects Reformist MP Candidates
TEHRAN, April 30 (News Agencies) - More than 40% of those hoping to stand for a parliament seat in June's by-elections were rejected by an oversight body for "non-conformity" with Iran's Islamic values, newspapers reported Monday.
Reformists allied to President Mohammad Khatami denounced the decision, claiming that the conservative-led Guardians Council had turned virtually all of their candidates down.
The council dismissed 145 of the 356 people who applied to run as candidates for the 17 seats to be filled on June 8th, when voters will also choose Iran's next president, a governmental Iran paper said.
It said 34 had links with the Iraq-based opposition People's Mujahideen, while others were rejected for an array of reasons including the possession or consumption of drugs and alcohol.
The names of those blocked from standing were not released, but the pro-reform daily Norouz said among them was Rasoul Montajabnia, a cleric and Khatami ally hoping to stand for the one seat up for grabs from Tehran.
Among those rejected by the council is Mohsen Rahami, the defense lawyer for Khatami's former interior minister Abdollah Nuri, as well as students implicated in the 1999 unrest at Tehran university, the Iran paper said.
The largest pro-reform party - the Islamic Iran Participation Front (IIPF), headed by Khatami's brother - blasted the rejections as "incredible".
A council spokesman cited by the official IRNA news agency said 61 people were eligible to run for the Tehran seat, vacated by former president Akbar Hashemi-Rafsanjani after his relatively poor showing at the polls last year.
The council, headed by leading conservative Ayatollah Ahmad Janati, is comprised of six clerics and an equal number of jurists.
The powerful oversight body, which also ensures that new legislation passed by parliament is in line with Islamic law, must also vet all candidates for the presidency, who have until May 6th to declare their intention to stand.
Khatami has still not announced whether he intends to run for election to a second four-year term, the maximum he is allowed under the constitution.
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