Iran bars nearly one-third of candidates from polls
TEHRAN (AFP) — Iran's conservative vetting body has banned nearly one in every three potential candidates from standing in March 14 parliamentary elections, the interior ministry said on Thursday.
"Around 5,000 candidates, representing 69 percent of those registered, have been approved," the press release said.
In the Tehran constituency which sends 30 deputies to the 290-seat parliament (majlis), a little over 1,000 candidates were approved from around 1,400 registered candidates.
Interior ministry committees were tasked with screening 7,168 hopefuls for the polls by gathering information from the police, intelligence ministry, and the judiciary and by making local inquiries.
"Sixty-nine people have withdrawn their candidacies, 131 people were found guilty of corruption and embezzlement, 329 people were disqualified because they had a bad reputation in their neighbourhood," the ministry said.
In addition, 188 people did not have the qualifications required, and monitoring bodies did not have sufficient proof to be able to "approve the application of 700 other people."
From the statement's numbers, it can be calculated that about 700 additional people were disqualified for other reasons.
The interior ministry said an unspecified number of candidates were barred for "narcotics use, ties with the former US backed shah regime, acting against the Islamic Republic, not adhering to the values of Islam and the Islamic system, having links to separatist groups and terrorist and foreign secret services and insulting religious values."
Rejected candidates have until January 26 to appeal to the surveillance commissions of the Guardians Council, a powerful electoral watchdog controlled by conservatives which has the final say on the choice of candidates.
If unsuccessful, they can then appeal directly to the Guardians Council itself, which has 20 days to rule.
In 2004, the Guardians Council banned more than 2,000 out of 8,172 registered, many of them reformists, leading that way for the victory of the conservatives.
The ministry's statement does not specify the candidates' political affiliations.
On Wednesday, a spokesman for the Reformists' Coalition, inspired by former President Mohammad Khatami, said that more than 50 percent of the group's candidates had been rejected.
Another reformist party -- National Confidence -- said 70 percent of its candidates rejected.
The Reformist Coalition website said most reformist candidates were barred for "non-adherence to Islam and the Islamic Republic system and not being loyal to the Constitution and to the principle of "absolute guardianship of jurisprudence" (velayat-e faghih motlagheh), and having a bad reputation."
The "absolute guardianship of jurisprudence" is a key idea of revolutionary leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini which enshrines the clerical leadership of Iran.
Three former members of Khatami's cabinet were barred on these grounds, the moderate Kargozaran newspaper reported. It named them as former transport minister Ahmad Khorram, former education minister Morteza Haji and former minister of cooperatives Ali Soufi.
Several reformist leaders, including former first vice-president Mohammad Reza Aref, himself a candidate from Tehran constituency, have talked about a possible "withdrawal of reformists from the elections" if the banned candidates were not approved.
