Financial Times

By Gareth Smyth in Tehran
14 Jan 2004
Published: January 13 2004 4:00 | Last Updated: January 13 2004 4:00

Iran reformers caught on hop by election bans

Three hundred Iranian reformers gathered yesterday evening in basement offices of Jebheye Mosharek ate Irane Eslami (the Iranian Islamic Participation Front) to denounce the disqualification of 80 parliamentary deputies from next month's elections.

"Those rejected are children of the revolution, they are people who fought in the war [of 1980-88 against Iraq]," said Sheikh Hadi Ghabel, one of the party's disqualified deputies and a cleric from Qom.

But outside in the streets of Tehran there was little sign of interest, a contrast to the demonstrations of four years ago after the authorities closed several reformist newspapers.

The conservatives have applauded the move by the Guardian Council, whose 12 members are appointed by the supreme leader, Ali Khamenei and vet parliament's actions for consistency with Islamic principles.

Conservative strategists believe Iranians have grown apathetic because the reformist parliament elected in 2000 has not delivered. They do not hide their desire for a low turnout in the parliamentary elections.

They believe any international reaction will be muted, and both the US and the European Union will in future deal with a conservative leadership with a parliamentary majority.

Javier Solana, the EU foreign policy chief who is on a two-day visit to Iran, said yesterday: "The fairness of an election. .. [includes] the process that leads to the day." But he said the disqualification of candidates was "an internal matter".

President Mohammad Khatami, the reformist president, has appealed for calm and promised to take the matter up through appeals to the Guardian Council.

But the scale of the rejections has caught the reformers on the back foot. A survey by IRNA, the official news agency, has suggested that 4,000 of 8,000 would-be candidates - as well as sitting deputies - have been ruled out.

Some deputies have begun a sit-in, while 27 provincial governors, appointed by the reformist-run Interior Ministry, have said they may resign in protest. Ali Tajer Nia, a deputy, said some cabinet members might also quit.

Many see such gestures, and denunciations of conservative conspiracies, as signs of weakness. "The reformists have used the tactic of resignation too often for people to listen," said Siamak Namazi, managing director of Atieh Bahar Consulting.

The situation may also strain the reformists' coalition.

Radicals outside the reformist camp insist the disqualifications mark the failure of the reformists' project begun when President Khatami was elected in 1997. "The rejection of so many candidates shows the current structure cannot be put right," said Abdullah Momeni, a student leader.