Post by hunt4fun1 on Jan 21, 2004 14:29:13 GMT -5
Hmmmm....seems that times are-a-changin in the Mid-East. 
Iran Officials Quit in Election Protest
By ALI AKBAR DAREINI, Associated Press Writer
TEHRAN, Iran - A number of Iranian Cabinet ministers and vice presidents have submitted their resignations to protest the barring of thousands of would-be candidates from upcoming elections, a senior official said Wednesday.
The resignations are the latest twist in an ongoing political crisis, sparked when hard-liners disqualified the candidates in what reformists said was an attempt to assure conservative victory in the February legislative election.
"A number of Cabinet ministers and a number of vice presidents have resigned. Naturally, they are waiting to see how things go," Vice President Mohammad Ali Abtahi said after a Wednesday Cabinet meeting.
Abtahi did not say how many officials resigned nor did he identify them. When asked if he had also resigned, Abtahi smiled but did not respond.
President Mohammad Khatami must approve the resignations for them to take effect.
Khatami, a leading reformer, has threatened to resign if the disqualifications are not reversed. On Wednesday, however, he refused to take that step.
"Because of my position, I have the responsibility to show that I serve the people," he said in an interview with SF DRS public television in Switzerland, where he was attending the World Economic Forum. "I intend to continue in my job and to serve the people. I intend to fulfill my duty."
The crisis was triggered when supervisory bodies affiliated with Iran's Guardian Council, an unelected body controlled by hard-liners, disqualified more than a third of the 8,200 people who applied as candidates in the Feb. 20 elections. Among those disqualified were 80 liberal members of parliament.
State media controlled by hard-liners say those disqualified failed to meet the legal criteria for candidacy, but reformists maintain the move was intended to skew the elections in favor of conservatives.
"The 1979 Islamic revolution was based on democracy, and such methods damage our Islamic democracy and turn elections into sham elections," Abtahi said.
On Tuesday, the Guardian Council said it was reinstating 200 candidates and would reconsider the cases of thousands more.
Interior Minister Abdolvahed Mousavi Lari presented a report during Wednesday's Cabinet session saying the hard-liners want to secure at least 180 seats in the 290-seat parliament.
Abtahi said that in recent days a presidential committee has "exerted much effort to reverse the situation, but practically, there has been little progress."
U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan underscored the need for free and fair elections in Iran.
"We follow very closely the developments in Iran," Annan said after talks with German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer in Switzerland.
"I hope they will be able to find a way to resolve their differences, so that one can have free and fair elections with participation of all the parties," he told reporters.
Iran Officials Quit in Election Protest
By ALI AKBAR DAREINI, Associated Press Writer
TEHRAN, Iran - A number of Iranian Cabinet ministers and vice presidents have submitted their resignations to protest the barring of thousands of would-be candidates from upcoming elections, a senior official said Wednesday.
The resignations are the latest twist in an ongoing political crisis, sparked when hard-liners disqualified the candidates in what reformists said was an attempt to assure conservative victory in the February legislative election.
"A number of Cabinet ministers and a number of vice presidents have resigned. Naturally, they are waiting to see how things go," Vice President Mohammad Ali Abtahi said after a Wednesday Cabinet meeting.
Abtahi did not say how many officials resigned nor did he identify them. When asked if he had also resigned, Abtahi smiled but did not respond.
President Mohammad Khatami must approve the resignations for them to take effect.
Khatami, a leading reformer, has threatened to resign if the disqualifications are not reversed. On Wednesday, however, he refused to take that step.
"Because of my position, I have the responsibility to show that I serve the people," he said in an interview with SF DRS public television in Switzerland, where he was attending the World Economic Forum. "I intend to continue in my job and to serve the people. I intend to fulfill my duty."
The crisis was triggered when supervisory bodies affiliated with Iran's Guardian Council, an unelected body controlled by hard-liners, disqualified more than a third of the 8,200 people who applied as candidates in the Feb. 20 elections. Among those disqualified were 80 liberal members of parliament.
State media controlled by hard-liners say those disqualified failed to meet the legal criteria for candidacy, but reformists maintain the move was intended to skew the elections in favor of conservatives.
"The 1979 Islamic revolution was based on democracy, and such methods damage our Islamic democracy and turn elections into sham elections," Abtahi said.
On Tuesday, the Guardian Council said it was reinstating 200 candidates and would reconsider the cases of thousands more.
Interior Minister Abdolvahed Mousavi Lari presented a report during Wednesday's Cabinet session saying the hard-liners want to secure at least 180 seats in the 290-seat parliament.
Abtahi said that in recent days a presidential committee has "exerted much effort to reverse the situation, but practically, there has been little progress."
U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan underscored the need for free and fair elections in Iran.
"We follow very closely the developments in Iran," Annan said after talks with German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer in Switzerland.
"I hope they will be able to find a way to resolve their differences, so that one can have free and fair elections with participation of all the parties," he told reporters.
