Municipal election campaign opens in Iran
TEHRAN, Feb 18 (AFP) - Posters and photos of candidates were plastered
all over buildings, bridges and telephone poles of Tehran as the campaign
for the February 26 municipal elections kicked off officially Thursday.
The same pictures were splashed over newspapers and magazines, and
the windows and bumpers of taxis, as the candidates prepare for just a
week of campaigning -- all electoral activity is banned the day before
the polls.
The municipal elections, the first since the 1979 Islamic revolution
which overthrew the shah, are being watched with intense interest.
The stakes are highest in the main cities, where conservatives and
reformists are battling it out for the post of mayor, a position formerly
appointed by the interior minister.
But the poll is also being seen as a dry run for next year's parliamentary
elections, enabling the two main political forces to weigh up their relative
popularity with the voters.
About 300,000 candidates, including some 5,000 women, are in the running
for 200,000 seats on councils in towns and villages across the country.
All would-be councillors had to vetted by selection committees, dominated
by conservatives, and publication of the definitive list was held up for
a week, following controversy over the banning of some candidates close
to reformist President Mohammad Khatami.
Four members of the illegal but tolerated opposition Freedom Movement
of Iran were given permission to stand in Tehran, but all FMI members who
wanted to stand in the provinces were disqualified. FMI leader Ibrahim
Yazdi said his party would try to make alliances with other candidates.
Tehran, with a population of nearly 10 million, has only 15 seats on
offer. Conservative candidates are standing on a joint list, supported
by the Association of Combattant Clergy, the oldest and most powerful political-religious
organisation in the country.
Their posters call for a humane and modern adminstration, and preach
respect for traditional architecture.
"The city's development can be guaranteed by specialists working
for the people," the posters read.
The reformers, a coalition of former radicals and moderates, are led
by former interior minister Abdollah Nuri, a close associate of Khatami
and of the previous mayor, Gholamhossein Karbaschi.
Karbaschi is ineligible to stand after being found guilty of corruption
last year in a case he alleged was brought by his conservative opponents.
The reformers are pledging "real participation in power" as
the election promises to be a crucial test of the new political openness
at the top of Khatami's agenda since his 1997 election with a landslide
majority.
Nationwide, conservative candidates have been culled from those deemed
most faithful to the Islamic regime and the principle -- written into the
constitution -- that Iran is led ultimately by its spiritual leader, currently
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
Thursday's edition of the English language Tehran Times called on candidates
and political parties to "issue their manifestoes including their
plans for taking over some responsibilities from the municipalities and
offering services to the citizens."
It said candidates should hold meetings with the people "to air
their views on the current issues, offer solutions and also become informed
of the public expectations."
The ministry of the interior is setting up 60,000 polling stations,
and for the first time voters will be given voting cards. In previous elections
they have used their identity cards.
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