Iran yesterday voted in elections expected to tighten the grip the conservatives have 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 about half of the 290 seats up for grabs after the 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 use the vote as a barometer of controversial President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's popularity, despite discontent over inflation rates of almost 18 percent.
Top officials and state media have made every effort to emphasize the importance of a massive turnout to show national unity at a time of mounting tension with the West over Iran's 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," supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said as he voted in Tehran. "The election is a time that determines the fate of a nation."
Ahmadinejad, who rushed from an Islamic summit in Senegal to vote, proclaimed that the world had chosen Iran as its "role model and savior."
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.
"Why should I vote when I am buying rice for 30,000 rials [US$3] a kilo? They have already been elected. They are joking. They've deceived people and will continue to do so," said Seyyed Mohsen, 51, a car dealer.
Reformists enjoyed their high point between 2000 and 2004 when they controlled parliament and their champion, Mohammad Khatami, was president.
But they were left with only a few dozen seats in parliament after the 2004 elections and the hardline Ahmadinejad took over the presidency a year later.
The two reformist coalitions have been able to field overlapping lists for the 30 seats available in Tehran, but the pre-election vetting seriously hindered their ability to compete nationwide.
Khatami's main reformist coalition is fielding only 150 candidates nationwide, while the more centrist National Confidence Party of ambitious cleric Mehdi Karroubi has 165.
"I will vote for the conservatives. Reformists have already proved they cannot govern properly and they did not pass the test," said merchant Mashallah Ghasemi, 64.
The campaign, which only lasted one week, was a muted affair.
The authorities were keen to see as little inter-factional squabbling as possible amid the nuclear crisis with the West and banned groups from putting up large election posters of their candidates.
Results are not expected quickly, with officials saying they should be ready by the New Year holidays, which start on Wednesday.
The campaign turned fractious in its final days, when conservatives accused top reformists of harboring excessively close contacts with foreigners.
The spokesman of reformists in the current parliament is in trouble with the intelligence ministry for talking to a US-based Persian channel, while Khatami's brother has been criticized for meeting the German ambassador.
The US is Iran's arch enemy and accuses Tehran of seeking nuclear weapons technology and of meddling in Iraq. It has said it has "very low expectations that people will be able to actually express themselves."
MORE VISITORS: The Tourism Administration said that it is seeing positive prospects in its efforts to expand the tourism market in North America and Europe Taiwan has been ranked as the cheapest place in the world to travel to this year, based on a list recommended by NerdWallet. The San Francisco-based personal finance company said that Taiwan topped the list of 16 nations it chose for budget travelers because US tourists do not need visas and travelers can easily have a good meal for less than US$10. A bus ride in Taipei costs just under US$0.50, while subway rides start at US$0.60, the firm said, adding that public transportation in Taiwan is easy to navigate. The firm also called Taiwan a “food lover’s paradise,” citing inexpensive breakfast stalls
TRADE: A mandatory declaration of origin for manufactured goods bound for the US is to take effect on May 7 to block China from exploiting Taiwan’s trade channels All products manufactured in Taiwan and exported to the US must include a signed declaration of origin starting on May 7, the Bureau of Foreign Trade announced yesterday. US President Donald Trump on April 2 imposed a 32 percent tariff on imports from Taiwan, but one week later announced a 90-day pause on its implementation. However, a universal 10 percent tariff was immediately applied to most imports from around the world. On April 12, the Trump administration further exempted computers, smartphones and semiconductors from the new tariffs. In response, President William Lai’s (賴清德) administration has introduced a series of countermeasures to support affected
CROSS-STRAIT: The vast majority of Taiwanese support maintaining the ‘status quo,’ while concern is rising about Beijing’s influence operations More than eight out of 10 Taiwanese reject Beijing’s “one country, two systems” framework for cross-strait relations, according to a survey released by the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) on Thursday. The MAC’s latest quarterly survey found that 84.4 percent of respondents opposed Beijing’s “one country, two systems” formula for handling cross-strait relations — a figure consistent with past polling. Over the past three years, opposition to the framework has remained high, ranging from a low of 83.6 percent in April 2023 to a peak of 89.6 percent in April last year. In the most recent poll, 82.5 percent also rejected China’s
PLUGGING HOLES: The amendments would bring the legislation in line with systems found in other countries such as Japan and the US, Legislator Chen Kuan-ting said Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Chen Kuan-ting (陳冠廷) has proposed amending national security legislation amid a spate of espionage cases. Potential gaps in security vetting procedures for personnel with access to sensitive information prompted him to propose the amendments, which would introduce changes to Article 14 of the Classified National Security Information Protection Act (國家機密保護法), Chen said yesterday. The proposal, which aims to enhance interagency vetting procedures and reduce the risk of classified information leaks, would establish a comprehensive security clearance system in Taiwan, he said. The amendment would require character and loyalty checks for civil servants and intelligence personnel prior to
RSS