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.
Shamans in Peru on Monday gathered for an annual New Year’s ritual where they made predictions for the year to come, including illness for US President Donald Trump and the downfall of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro. “The United States should prepare itself because Donald Trump will fall seriously ill,” Juan de Dios Garcia proclaimed as he gathered with other shamans on a beach in southern Lima, dressed in traditional Andean ponchos and headdresses, and sprinkling flowers on the sand. The shamans carried large posters of world leaders, over which they crossed swords and burned incense, some of which they stomped on. In this
The death of a former head of China’s one-child policy has been met not by tributes, but by castigation of the abandoned policy on social media this week. State media praised Peng Peiyun (彭珮雲), former head of China’s National Family Planning Commission from 1988 to 1998, as “an outstanding leader” in her work related to women and children. The reaction on Chinese social media to Peng’s death in Beijing on Sunday, just shy of her 96th birthday, was less positive. “Those children who were lost, naked, are waiting for you over there” in the afterlife, one person posted on China’s Sina Weibo platform. China’s
‘NO COUNTRY BUMPKIN’: The judge rejected arguments that former prime minister Najib Razak was an unwitting victim, saying Najib took steps to protect his position Imprisoned former Malaysian prime minister Najib Razak was yesterday convicted, following a corruption trial tied to multibillion-dollar looting of the 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) state investment fund. The nation’s high court found Najib, 72, guilty on four counts of abuse of power and 21 charges of money laundering related to more than US$700 million channeled into his personal bank accounts from the 1MDB fund. Najib denied any wrongdoing, and maintained the funds were a political donation from Saudi Arabia and that he had been misled by rogue financiers led by businessman Low Taek Jho. Low, thought to be the scandal’s mastermind, remains
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese yesterday announced plans for a national bravery award to recognize civilians and first responders who confronted “the worst of evil” during an anti-Semitic terror attack that left 15 dead and has cast a heavy shadow over the nation’s holiday season. Albanese said he plans to establish a special honors system for those who placed themselves in harm’s way to help during the attack on a beachside Hanukkah celebration, like Ahmed al-Ahmed, a Syrian-Australian Muslim who disarmed one of the assailants before being wounded himself. Sajid Akram, who was killed by police during the Dec. 14 attack, and
RSS