GUARDIAN COUNCIL ACCUSED OF LYING TO THE PUBLIC
TEHRAN, 25 Jan. (IPS) Iranian President Mohammad Khatami and Speaker of the Majles, Mehdi Karroobi in a joint statement, reiterated their determination for holding "fair, free and democratic" elections and indirectly accused the Council of the Guardians of lying to the public, urging it to release the full text of the meeting they held last Saturday with some members of the Council.
The two clerics, heads of the Executive and the Legislative, both controlled
by the reformists, were referring to the speech made Friday by Ayatollah
Ahmad Jannati, the Secretary of the CG, telling worshippers that at the end
of the meeting between the Guardians in the one hand and Karroobi and Khatami on
the other, the two "realized that information they had received about
disqualifications were not correct".
In his speech, Ayatollah Jannati also said that the CG would obey the order of Ayatollah Ali Khameneh’i requesting the Council to review its decision to disqualify half of the reformist candidates, including 80 incumbent lawmakers, with among them the younger brother of the embattled President, Dr Mohammad Reza Khatami, who is both the leader of the country’s largest political party and the first deputy Speaker of the reformists-controlled parliament.
But so far, and as some conservative runners have started their campaign, the Guardians have not made public the number of the cases they have reviewed, but according to a reformist lawmaker, at least 180 seats have already been secured for the conservatives, making the next elections "a selection".
"Contrary to the declarations made by Mr. Jannati on Friday, not only we were not convinced, but we left the meeting more confused", the two clerics who are pitted against the CG pointed out in their statement, adding that they could "possibly not approve of a process that refuse 190 candidates fair and just chances to run for the upcoming elections".
"In order to avoid the public a wrong information, as it seems to be the case with Ayatollah Jannati, we recommend the honorable Council to release the full text of discussions held at that meeting", Khatami and Karroobi suggested, calling again on the CG to review its decision, allowing the elections for the seventh Majles of the Islamic Republic be held in a clean and friendly atmosphere, as reported by the pro-reformist news agency "Mehr".
Iranian observers interpreted the statement as meaning that Mr. Khatami has despaired from consistent efforts to seek a friendly solution to the political crisis that they consider "a storm in a tea cup".
"The problem with Mr. Khatami is that he continue his dream of reconciling the opposites, like water with fire", one analyst told Iran Press Service on condition of anonymity. ENDS IRAN DISQUALIFICATIONS 25104