Hardliners have thrown Iran's legislative elections into crisis by disqualifying hundreds of liberal candidates, including more than 80 sitting lawmakers who are allied with the reformist president.
President Mohammad Khatami pledged to fight the move by Iran's Guardian Council, and reformist members of parliament staged a sit-in protest at the legislature. One lawmaker condemned the decision as a "bloodless coup" by Islamic conservatives.
The disqualifications were reported Sunday by the official Islamic Republic News Agency and by Khatami allies, but it was unclear when the council made the decision.
The council, which comprises conservatives picked by Iran's supreme leader, barred more than 80 incumbent lawmakers, all reformists, from seeking another term in next month's parliamentary elections, the news agency said.
In all, about 900 of the 1,700 people who wanted to contest seats in Tehran have been disqualified, members of parliament said.
The disqualified legislators include Mohammad Reza Khatami, the younger brother of the president, and Behzad Nabavi -- both deputy speakers of parliament. Mohammad Reza Khatami leads the Islamic Iran Participation Front, the largest reformist party.
The Guardian Council also disqualified Fatemeh Haqiqatjou and Elaheh Koulaee, two female legislators who have fought for women's rights.
President Khatami vowed Sunday to challenge the disqualifications, saying there would be a "harsh reaction" if legal channels failed to overturn the council's decision.
"It's meaningless that qualification of prominent figures who have worked for the nation for years is not approved," the president told reporters after a Cabinet meeting. "I'm against such disqualifications. There are legal ways to fight."
Lawmaker Mohsen Mirdamadi called the Guardian Council's decision a "bloodless coup," the official IRNA news agency reported.
ROLLER-COASTER RIDE: More than five earthquakes ranging from magnitude 4.4 to 5.5 on the Richter scale shook eastern Taiwan in rapid succession yesterday afternoon Back-to-back weather fronts are forecast to hit Taiwan this week, resulting in rain across the nation in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration said yesterday, as it also warned residents in mountainous regions to be wary of landslides and rockfalls. As the first front approached, sporadic rainfall began in central and northern parts of Taiwan yesterday, the agency said, adding that rain is forecast to intensify in those regions today, while brief showers would also affect other parts of the nation. A second weather system is forecast to arrive on Thursday, bringing additional rain to the whole nation until Sunday, it
CONDITIONAL: The PRC imposes secret requirements that the funding it provides cannot be spent in states with diplomatic relations with Taiwan, Emma Reilly said China has been bribing UN officials to obtain “special benefits” and to block funding from countries that have diplomatic ties with Taiwan, a former UN employee told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. At a House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee hearing into “international relations within the multilateral system,” former Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) employee Emma Reilly said in a written statement that “Beijing paid bribes to the two successive Presidents of the [UN] General Assembly” during the two-year negotiation of the Sustainable Development Goals. Another way China exercises influence within the UN Secretariat is
LANDSLIDES POSSIBLE: The agency advised the public to avoid visiting mountainous regions due to more expected aftershocks and rainfall from a series of weather fronts A series of earthquakes over the past few days were likely aftershocks of the April 3 earthquake in Hualien County, with further aftershocks to be expected for up to a year, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Based on the nation’s experience after the quake on Sept. 21, 1999, more aftershocks are possible over the next six months to a year, the agency said. A total of 103 earthquakes of magnitude 4 on the local magnitude scale or higher hit Hualien County from 5:08pm on Monday to 10:27am yesterday, with 27 of them exceeding magnitude 5. They included two, of magnitude
Taiwan’s first drag queen to compete on the internationally acclaimed RuPaul’s Drag Race, Nymphia Wind (妮妃雅), was on Friday crowned the “Next Drag Superstar.” Dressed in a sparkling banana dress, Nymphia Wind swept onto the stage for the final, and stole the show. “Taiwan this is for you,” she said right after show host RuPaul announced her as the winner. “To those who feel like they don’t belong, just remember to live fearlessly and to live their truth,” she said on stage. One of the frontrunners for the past 15 episodes, the 28-year-old breezed through to the final after weeks of showcasing her unique