Reformists sweep Iran legislative polls
TEHRAN: In another blow to Islamic hard-liners fighting to stifle reforms,
allies of Iran's reformist President have swept 52 of the 66 seats contested
in run-off legislative elections.
State-run Tehran radio announced the names of the winners in Friday's
elections but did not give their affiliations.
The Islamic Iran Participation Front said 52 winners or 79 percent, were
reformists. The party is headed by the brother of President Mohammad Khatami
and is the nation's largest reformist party.
Hard-liners won 10 seats and four seats went to independents, said Mohsen
Pirzadeh, an official at the party headquarters. He said 43 winners were
from the Islamic Iran Participation Front.
Elections in Iran are not contested on party lines and the leanings of the
candidates are known only unofficially.
The hard-line guardian council, which oversees elections, still must endorse
the results. It annulled a dozen reformist victories in the February 18
first round of voting.
Iranian President Mohammad Khatami's pro-democracy allies had been expected
to make a strong showing in the polls despite a crackdown by hard-liners
determined to cling to power.
The results announced today are bad news for hard-liners trying to mitigate
a humiliating first-round defeat. In that balloting, reformists won about 70
percent of the races for the 290-seat parliament, or Majlis.
Whether the run-off results would seal a reformist victory or open the way
to more confrontation with hard-liners wasn't clear. Opponents of reforms
promoted by Khatami have shown they won't easily give up power.
In the weeks before Friday's vote, the hard-liners, along with annulling
some reformist election victories, closed 16 pro-democracy newspapers in
Tehran and arrested top liberal activists. (AP)
For reprint rights: Times Syndication Service
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