IRAN-Khomeini's grandson excluded from Iranian elections

[dani67]

Khomeini's grandson excluded from Iranian elections

Disqualification of moderate cleric comes amid claims that he lacks sufficient religious competence.

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By Arutz Sheva Staff
First Publish: 1/26/2016, 1:47 PM

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Hassan Khomeini​

Reuters​

The grandson of the founder of the Islamic Republic of Iran has reportedly been disqualified from running in the upcoming elections for the country's Assembly of Experts.
The Guardian Council rejected the 43-year-old cleric, Hassan Khomeini, on the grounds that he does not have sufficient religious competence. However, he is considered a moderate and has strong ties with reformists, and some believe this is the true reason.
Khomeini's son, Ahmad, claimed on Instagram that the ruling came in spite of "testimony from dozens of religious authorities. In my opinion, the reason for non-verification is clear to everyone."
The Assembly of Experts is a powerful group of clerics which monitors the work of Iran's current supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and will be responsible for selecting his successor.
Elections to the 88-member Assembly will take place on February 26. Iran's parliamentary elections will also take place on the same day

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[dani67]

HE IS IN ROUHANI PARTY

90% OF REFORMERS AND LEFT
excluded from Iranian elections TOO

 

[dani67]

Hardliners Tighten Hold on Iran, Disqualifying 99% of Reformers from Upcoming Elections

by TheTower.org Staff | 01.19.16 5:27 pm

Almost all so-called reformist candidates who registered to run in Iran’s parliamentary elections have been disqualified by the regime’s unelected Guardian Council, The Wall Street Journal reported (Google link) on Tuesday.
An official from an Iranian council of reformists said that only 30 of 3,000 contenders from the reformist camp, which advocates for greater political and economic freedoms, have been allowed to participate in February’s election. In total, two-thirds of all the 12,000 candidates who sought to run in the elections have withdrawn or been disqualified by the Guardian Council.
The Guardian Council, an extremely influential body in Iranian politics, determines who may run for public office and holds the power to veto any bills passed by the Iranian parliament. Six of its 12 members are Islamic theologians who are appointed by Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, while the others are jurists who are chosen by parliament from a pre-selected pool. While candidates who are disqualified by the council may appeal its decision, such requests are not expected to result in many reinstatements.
The Journal wrote (Google link) last week that Iranian conservatives were increasingly cracking down on artists and political dissidents. In November, the Journal reported(Google link) that since signing a nuclear deal with world powers, Iran’s hardline Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) stepped up its involvement in Syria, tested ballistic missiles, and arrested two businessmen with ties to the United States. “Conservatives opposed to any relaxation in the regime’s traditional hostility to the U.S. are pushing back strongly, both at home and abroad,” it added.
According to Iraqi security officials, the three American contractors who were kidnapped in Baghdad on Friday were abducted by Shiite militias, which are supported by the IRGC, theJournal reported (Google link) separately on Tuesday.

 

[TNHarley]

Such a good country.
I cant wait to see all the good things they do with nuclear energy!

 

[dani67]

Iranian Council Disqualifies Virtually All Reformers From Running For Office

1, January 20, 2016 jonathanturley Free Speech, International, Politics, Society

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Iran’s idea of an election has always been something of a curiosity. No more so than this week. The Guardian Council, an unelected group composed of Muslim clerics and hardliners,disqualified all but 30 of the 3,000 reform candidates seeking to appear on ballots for the parliamentary elections. Six of the 12 members of the Council are clerics selected by Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
The Guardian Council determines who voters will be allowed to see on the ballot — guaranteeing that the Parliament will remain in the control of hardliners.
Ironically, Iran recently denounced Saudi Arabia for its lack of guarantees of free speech and basic rights for its citizens.
The disqualification of reformists has been a long problem in Iran but this year appears even more extensive in the heavy handed role of the Council.
Recently, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei called on all Iranians — even those who oppose him —to participate in the elections. What he didn’t mention is that they could participate only if they voted between the candidates that he approved. It is the Henry Ford version of politics: you can choose any color so long as it is black.

 

[dani67]

3,000 reformers disqualified from running in Iran poll

January 24, 2008, Thursday/ 19:40:00/ AP

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About 3,000 prospective candidates, most of them reformists seeking democratic changes within Iran’s hard-line ruling Islamic establishment, were disqualified from running in the upcoming parliamentary elections, officials and party leaders said on Wednesday.The mass disqualification of reformist candidates removes the biggest rival to hard-liners -- including those allied with embattled President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad -- vying for the parliament seats in the crucial March 14 election.
The elections are seen as a key test of Ahmadinejad’s hold on power and a harbinger for the 2009 presidential elections. The hard-line president has come under increasing criticism -- from both allies and opponents -- about his failure to fix Iran’s economic problems, which have most recently led to heating gas shortages.
The announcement provoked widespread condemnation from reformists, with former President Mohammad Khatami saying the government had no right to deprive Iranians the right to run in elections. “Worrying reports have come true. The number of candidates disqualified is surprising,” said Abdollah Naseri, a spokesman for reformist political factions. Hardest hit in the vetting process are the Islamic Iran Participation Front (IIPF), Iran’s largest reformist party, and the Islamic Revolution Mojahedeen Organization (IRMO), another reformist faction. “All prospective candidates fielded by IIPF and IRMO in Tehran have been rejected,” Saeed Shariati, a top Front figure said on Wednesday. “Of 200 IIPF hopefuls registered throughout Iran, 190 of them have been disqualified.” Many of those disqualified were key lawmakers or cabinet ministers during the tenure of Khatami, who is a reformist. Esmaeil Gerami Moghaddam, spokesman of the reformist National Confidence Party, said more than 70 percent of its hopefuls were rejected by authorities monitoring the elections.
The front page Wednesday of the reformist daily newspaper Etemad, which means confidence in Farsi, read: “3,000 disqualified.” Tehran deputy governor, Hossein Tala, said 28 percent of hopefuls were disqualified in Tehran alone, the official IRNA news agency reported on Wednesday. Of the total 1,403 prospective candidates registered in Tehran, more than 390 were disqualified by the executive committees affiliated with the Interior Ministry, Tala said, according to IRNA.

 

[waltky]

The more things change, the more they remain the same...

Hardliners Will Continue to Dominate Iran’s Government
March 3, 2016 – Despite mainstream media assertions to the contrary, Iran’s recent election for parliament and for the body that will choose the next supreme leader was not a sweeping victory for “moderates,” according to some veteran Iranian observers.

They say hardliners will continue to dominate both the parliament (the majlis) and the Assembly of Experts, the 88-member body that appoints and nominally oversees the supreme leader. Many media outlets continue to depict the outcome of the February 26 elections as a triumph for those wanting change. Seeking the administration’s view on the election, one reporter commented during Wednesday’s State Department briefing that “it seems like the extremists have been dealt a resounding defeat.” (Spokesman Mark Toner said the U.S. would wait for all the formal results to be tallied and officially announced.)

Supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei casts his ballot in Iran's election​

The three main electoral lists were the “principalists” or hardliners; the “reformists” or moderates associated with President Hasan Rouhani and former two-term President Hashemi Rafsanjani; and mostly “conservative” independents.” Reformists are generally reported to have done better than expected, but the Iranian-American Forum reported that according to its assessment the reformist list won 37 percent of seats in parliament and 22 percent of seats in the Assembly of Experts. (The forum noted that some candidates appeared on more than one list, leading to debate about their affiliation, but said that when in doubt it used figures most favorable to the reformist bloc.)

Even those figures do not tell the whole story, according to the Iranian-American Forum, which says it works to support the Iranian people’s aspirations for democratic change and human rights. Because the Guardian Council – a small religious-legal body appointed by the supreme leader – disqualified the vast majority of reformists before the election, the reformist camp filled its “electoral lists with new candidates, many of them well-known conservatives, some with blatant anti-reform positions,” it said. “Therefore, the real percentage of ‘reformists’ elected to new parliament is lower than the 37 percent,” it said.

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See also:

Iran’s election wasn’t about moderation or democracy. It was about how Iran will re-engage with the world.
Iran’s elections last week made this clear: Politics have changed in the Islamic Republic – and it was the nuclear deal with the West that made the difference. Since the beginning of Mohammad Khatami’s presidency in 1997 until last week’s parliamentary election, the Iranian political landscape was divided between reformists and conservatives. While reformists tended to be more liberal and advocated more cultural and political freedom, conservatives supported an extreme enforcement of sharia law and a more limited circulation of power. Now, these two groups are working together.

With Iran’s nuclear deal between Iran and the P5+1, structured politics in Iran has changed. President Hassan Rouhani’s election was not a surprise. The biggest issue in the 2013 presidential election was over the costs incurred by Iran’s nuclear program — Rouhani was the only candidate who promised to work out a compromise with the United States if elected.

In Iran now, the main debate has not been over democracy or human rights, but over the Rouhani government’s purchasing of Airbus airplanes. Opposition candidates emphasized the application of “resistive economy” (a national economic structure that is resistant to any external sanctions) and warned against Western economic influence. Proponents of internationalization defended the purchase of Airbus airplanes and dismissed denunciations of the excessive economic influence of the West as amounting to “conspiracy theory.” This exemplifies the new terms of political division.

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani speaks during a joint press conference with Swiss President Johann Schneider-Ammann after their meeting at the Saadabad Palace in Tehran​

There is also the hard-liners’ argument for isolation. The supreme leader of Iran holds highly pessimistic views of the U.S. government and, even after the nuclear deal, considers it “unreliable.” From his perspective, the Western world has shifted from the goal of overthrowing the Iranian government to seeking to transform, or Westernize, it. The West strives to achieve this end, he believes, through its supporters inside Iran. Therefore, he constantly warns against the influence of the West and asks Iranians to vote against candidates who are supported by the West. Prior to the election, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei encouraged voters to vote in a manner that went completely against the U.K.’s wishes. He was referring to a piece in the BBC Persian website that says how the voters in Tehran could avoid three grand Ayatollahs to get into the assembly of experts. Finally, two of those three Ayatollahs could not win the election, so their supporters accused the winners of being the British List! That was why the supreme leader in his first statement after the election said, “Progress does not mean being digested in the stomach of global arrogance, and preserving national dignity and identity is not possible except with comprehensive and home-grown progress.”

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[waltky]

Results expected to be announced today...

Polls open in Iran parliamentary elections
Sat, Apr 30, 2016 - INVOLVEMENT URGED: Voting began yesterday morning and was to end the same day as legislators seek four-year terms, with results expected to be announced today

Iran’s parliamentary runoff elections got under way yesterday, a key vote to decide whether forces backing Iranian President Hassan Rouhani or others will control the legislature, state media reported. The balloting is for the remaining 68 positions in the 290-seat chamber, which will set the legislative course for the Islamic Republic following a nuclear deal last year with world powers. In February, a bloc of reformists and allies of Rouhani won a majority in a vote that saw a 62 percent turnout. The bloc needs to win 40 seats to control the parliament, which is to begin work late next month. Others are also hoping to boost their presence in the next parliament.

Polls opened at 8am and nearly 17 million Iranians were eligible to vote in 55 constituencies, including cities and towns across the nation. In Tehran, moderates won all 30 seats there outright in the first round of voting. The moderate-reformist bloc is fielding 58 candidates in the runoff. The remainder of the candidates include several independents. Lawmakers serve four-year terms. Polls were to be open until at least 6pm, though election hours often get extended. Iranian Minister of the Interior Abdolreza Rahmani Fazli told reporters that election results are expected today.

A woman casts her ballot at a polling station in Robat Karim, Iran​

Over the past days, Iranian leaders have urged people to vote. “The importance of the runoff elections is not less than the first round; there is a need for all to participate. Participation in the elections is decisive,” Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who has final say on all state matters, said on Wednesday. The election is viewed by many as a referendum on the leadership of Rouhani, whose administration negotiated the deal with world powers — including the US — to limit Iran’s nuclear program in exchange for the lifting of international sanctions.

While the deal has taken effect, many feel they have not seen its benefits as Iran’s economy remains anemic. In February, voters also picked members for an 88-seat body of clerics charged with selecting the replacement for the supreme leader from high-ranking clerics, including its members. The Assembly of Experts is elected every eight years and there is a chance its members might need to find a successor for the ayatollah, who is 76 years old and underwent prostate surgery in 2014, renewing speculation about his health. In the time since, Khamenei has appeared in good health in weekly meetings and reportedly was seen hiking near the capital.

Polls open in Iran parliamentary elections - Taipei Times

See also:

Iran's moderates make modest gains in run-off election
April 30, 2016 - Politicians allied to President Hassan Rouhani came out strongest in a second round of parliamentary elections in Iran, early results showed on Saturday, but his moderate faction appeared unlikely to clinch an overall majority.

If confirmed, the results suggest Iran's next parliament will be more supportive of Rouhani's drive for economic reforms, but conservatives will remain a powerful force and could limit the prospects for social change. Iranians voted on Friday for 68 seats where no candidate had won decisively in the first round. Rouhani's allies made significant gains in that vote, held in February, ending conservative dominance of the 290-seat assembly. Rouhani, who came to power in 2013 on a pledge to end Iran's global isolation, has seen his support increase since reaching a nuclear deal with world powers last year, which resulted in the lifting of international sanctions in January.

The ISNA news agency said 31 "reformists" had won seats, referring to Rouhani's allies, along with 20 independent candidates and just six conservatives. Counting was still going on for 11 seats. All the results must be approved the Guardian Council, a vetting body. If those results are borne out, neither the moderates nor the conservatives will have a majority in the next parliament, which will begin its session on May 27. The balance of power will be determined by independents.

An unofficial Reuters tally of first-round results showed moderates won about 90 seats, conservatives 112, and independents 29. The figures are approximate because Iran does not have rigid party affiliations and some candidates were backed by both camps. The more balanced parliament would give Rouhani more freedom to pursue economic reform, analysts said, but few expected fundamental changes to the fabric of the Islamic republic.

Hardline factions will continue to assert authority through a number of unelected bodies in Iran's political system, including the judiciary, the Guardian Council, and various branches of the security forces. The swing power of independent lawmakers will make for combative politics, and the Rouhani administration's sway over social and political issues will remain limited. "It's going to be issue by issue ... I don't think we should expect a group of independents to be supportive of any political, social and cultural liberalization," said Sanam Vakil, associate fellow at Britain's Chatham House think-tank.

Iran's moderates make modest gains in run-off election

 

[waltky]

Iran moderates win back parliament...

Iran elections: Hardliners lose parliament to Rouhani allies
Sat, 30 Apr 2016 | Run-off elections give moderates and reformists a working majority in the Iranian parliament for the first time in more than a decade.

Supporters of President Hassan Rouhani won 42% of the total seats - short of an outright majority but comfortable enough to pass his legislative plans. Independents took nearly 30% and many of them are said to be reform-minded. Hardliners won just under a third of seats in a humiliating performance, a BBC correspondent reports.

The run-off was held on Friday in constituencies where no candidate had won the minimum 25% of the vote at the first round in February. The results are regarded by many as an endorsement of the nuclear agreement that the government of President Rouhani signed with the US and other world powers to curtail Iran's nuclear programme in return for the lifting of international sanctions.

A man holding a little girl casts his vote in Shiraz, Iran​

Rouhani can be happy - analysis by Kasra Naji, BBC Persian

President Hassan Rouhani will look at the results of the run-off elections with a good deal of satisfaction. The moderate and independent candidates have dwarfed his hard-line opponents. Many of the independents are generally believed to be supporters of the government. This means he will have little trouble in the next parliament, which is due to start work in less than a month from now.

His first priority, according to his Foreign Minister, Javad Zarif, is the introduction of bill to guarantee citizens' rights - a major step, he hopes, that will improve human rights in the country and the rule of law. But he still faces other centres of power that are in the hands of the hardliners, who may block his every effort to steer Iran towards moderation.

'Issue by issue'

See also:

Iran's moderates get most parliament seats after runoff
Apr 30,`16 -- Iranian moderates and reformists who support last year's landmark nuclear deal have won the largest number of seats in parliament following runoff elections, marking a shift away from hard-liners and boosting moderate President Hassan Rouhani as he looks to secure a second term in office.

The results released Saturday on state television failed to give the moderate-reformist camp an outright majority in the 290-seat chamber, however. They will now likely try to attract support from dozens of independent lawmakers whose political leanings vary depending on the issue at hand. There were 68 seats being contested in runoff elections held Friday in 55 constituencies around the country. Residents in the capital, Tehran, did not take part in the second-round balloting because moderates won all 30 seats there outright in first-round voting in February. The reformist and moderate list claimed 37 seats in Friday's vote, giving them a total of 143 seats in the assembly - just two seats shy of 50 percent. They are followed by hard-liners, with 86 seats, and independents, with 61. Twenty-two hard-liners and nine independents won seats in the runoff.

Mohammad Reza Aref, head of the moderate-reformist bloc, welcomed the victory, saying "our priority is engagement with other factions rather than confrontation," the semi-official ISNA news agency reported. Tehran-based political analyst Saeed Leilaz called the results a "decisive victory" for the moderate-reformist bloc. "It is now clear that they are more popular than hard-liners, even in the remote areas," where their support was seen as lower than in major cities, Leilaz said. A total of 17 women won seats in both rounds of elections, the largest number ever. At least 11 of them are moderate-reformist.

Iranian journalists wait for the announcement of results of the country's parliamentary runoff elections at the Interior Ministry in Tehran, Iran, Saturday, April 30, 2016. Iranian moderates and reformists who support President Hassan Rouhani and last year's landmark nuclear deal have failed to secure a majority after parliamentary runoff elections but will retain the most seats in the assembly.​

Deputy Interior Minister Hossein Ali Amiri told state TV that turnout in the runoff elections was 59 percent, compared with 62 percent in the original February elections. Some 17 million Iranians were eligible to vote. Iran does not allow international election observers to monitor its polls, which are organized by the Interior Ministry. Friday's vote was marred by rare violence in the southern town of Mamasani, home to several armed tribes. Four people were wounded in a shooting that followed an argument between supporters of rival candidates running there.

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[dani67]

left/reformist/rouhani allies = 121 42%
right/conversative/=83 29%
independent= 65 22%
others( rouhani allies too)= 21 7%

 

[waltky]

Looks like the reformists have it.

 

[dani67]

Looks like the reformists have it.

yes. most independent always support president because of budget