Iran's hardline Guardian Council has rejected an electoral reform bill aimed at reversing its decision to ban hundreds of reformist candidates from standing for parliamentary elections, a reformist MP said yesterday.
Iran's reformist-dominated parliament passed the emergency reform proposal on Sunday in a clear act of defiance aimed at the Guardian Council, which has vetoed almost half of the 8,200 aspirants from running in the Feb. 20 election.
But the council, an unelected 12-member body comprised of conservative clerics and Islamic jurists, used its sweeping powers to reject the reform bill, further escalating Iran's worst political crisis in years.
"This indicates that the level of confrontation between the MPs and the Guardian Council continues and they [the council] don't want to accept any solution," lawmaker Reza Yousefian said.
"On the other hand, the MPs don't want to step back from their demands either," he said.
He said protesting MPs, who have held a two-week sit-in in parliament to protest against the mass vetting of candidates, would now consider their next move, which could include mass resignations or boycotting the elections.
Dozens of officials in reformist President Mohammad Khatami's government have threatened to resign unless the candidate bans are overturned. Khatami has also heavily criticized the move while insisting that a negotiated compromise can still be reached.
The political standoff has prompted US and European officials to voice concern that Iranians may be deprived of a fair election process.
Khatami's allies accuse the Guardian Council of seeking to help conservative candidates reverse their loss to reformists in the 2000 parliament elections.
They say they will be unable to contest about 190 of parliament's 290 seats unless the Guardian Council backs down.
The Guardian Council has been a key weapon in the armory of Iran's conservatives who fear that Khatami's efforts at reform could undermine the values of the 1979 Islamic revolution.
Designed as a counterweight to the elected parliament, the council can veto legislation it deems unconstitutional or incompatible with Islamic Sharia law -- a power it has used repeatedly to block reforms since Khatami's 1997 election win.
It can also bar election candidates it considers unfit for office for reasons such as lack of commitment to the Constitution or to the clerical establishment headed by Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
The electoral reform approved by parliament would have made it more difficult for the Guardian Council to bar hopefuls on the grounds of lack of loyalty to the Constitution or Islam.
It also sought to enshrine in law recent guidance given to the council by Khamenei that those who have been deemed qualified to run in previous elections should not be barred unless there is solid evidence against them.
Around 80 sitting MPs, nearly all reformists, have been disqualified from next month's vote, including parliament's two deputy speakers and several female lawmakers.
The Guardian Council says it is reviewing more than 3,000 appeals lodged by disqualified candidates and has so far reinstated around 400 that were initially barred. It has until Jan. 30 to complete its review of the appeals.
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