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TEHRAN: Iran on Friday voted in elections expected to tighten its
conservative grip on parliament after a low-key campaign and the
mass disqualification of reformist candidates by a hardline vetting
body.
Reformists are only able to contest around half
of the 290 seats up for grabs after the hardline Guardians Council
vetoed hundreds of their candidates for being deemed insufficiently
loyal to the Islamic revolution.
The sidelining of reformists means it will be
difficult to ascertain the nationwide popularity of controversial
President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in the vote, despite discontent over
inflation rates of almost 18 percent.
Top officials and state media made efforts to
emphasize the importance of a massive turnout to show national unity
at a time of mounting tension with the West over the Iranian nuclear
program.
State television was playing patriotic music
against a backdrop of pictures of Iran’s ancient heritage and long
queues of people voting in past elections in a bid to show the
importance of the election.
“For our country and our nation this is a
critical moment and day,” said supreme leader Ayatollah Ali
Khamenei as he cast his vote in Tehran. “The election is a time
that determines the fate of a nation.”
The authorities will be hoping there is no
repeat of the slack turnout in 2004, when barely half the electorate
voted nationwide and less than 40 percent in Tehran.
Reformists enjoyed their high point between
2000-2004 when they controlled parliament and their champion
Mohammad Khatami was president.
-- AFP
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