Thursday, February 23, 2012

Elections Campaign Begins in Iran

The elections campaign for the Ninth Majlis, the Iranian parliament, started today. The elections will be held on 2 March. In the absence of the reformists and the opposition, the conservative candidates will be competing against each other for the 290 seats in Majlis.

The Guardian Council, the government’s elections supervisory body, has disqualified 30 percent of candidates for Majlis, including 35 current members of the parliament. Among the most prominent politicians disqualified are Shahabodin Sadr, currently the deputy speaker of the Majlis and Mahmoud Alavi, currently a member of the Assembly of Experts and the former Supreme Leader’s representative in Artesh (Iran’s regular military). They have been accused of “not abiding to the Islamic principles.”

The conservatives are slip under three main groupings:

  • The ruling United Principlist Front (UPF), the traditional conservatives led by Assembly of Expert Chairman Ayatollah Mahdavi Kani.
  • The Resistance Front (RF), the ultraconservatives led by fundamentalist leader Ayatollah Mesbah Yazdi.
  • Voice of Nation (VON- formerly known as ‘Government Critics’), the most moderate of the three groups, led by Dr. Ali Motahari, Ahmadinejad’s chief critic in the current Majlis.

48,288,799 people are eligible to vote, with 3.9 million becoming eligible to cast their votes for the first time.

12 comments:

Anonymous said...

It makes no difference the TAVILEH remains the same.
Birds of the same feather stick together.

rumi said...

To asshole anti-iran crowd that run this website, and don't let any pro-iran comments to be published here, fine, who gives a shit. Just because you don't it doesn't mean millions of people don't exists. Keep burying you head in the sand.

Anonymous said...

Anon 12:18

............

did you hear what I said about your M...M ?

anon 3:06.. its US allies that are falling one aftre the other and are trying to get closer to Iran that frustrates these AH.

so go Iran Go..

Anonymous said...

To those who think that if anyone criticizes the regime then we are pro west/ pro east/ or get marching orders from foreign capitals:

We are exactly the opposite; we want an independent, strong but just Iran. Iran where a few at the top does not steal millions and claim they are on the side of the God. Iran where those who fought and gave their best in the eight year war with Saddam do not end up in jails because they speak the truth. Iran where Justice and "Hagh" trumps the politician or who you know and who is your father. Iran where families are protected no matter what language they speak...As a matter of fact what some in the regime did and are doing are helping Iran's enemies than anyone else.

Nader Uskowi said...

rumi,

You probably have demonstrated here why if any of your highly stylish and literary comments have not been published on this blog!

But few questions remain: what is your analysis of these elections? (After all that was the subject of our post; hope you have read the post before commenting!) And what is your reference to our lack of acknowledgment of the existence of millions of people? In other words, what are you talking about?

BTW, if you do not give a ---t about this blog and if we publish your comments, why do you keep sending your comments to us? Is that part of your duties or your love of writing?

Maxtrue said...

Well maybe they post because they feel the clock winding down and live in despair. They should watch Separation where the word Israeli was never mentioned.

More than 40% of Iran is Azerbaijani which is why the regime supported Armenia.

Terrorism, supporting Assad, rigging elections, oppressing the people, threatening genocide must seem admirable to these guys.

Well when Putin is Iran's last friend, remember the Mullahs supported the coup because they knew what the KGB would do to them if the US retreated.

Anonymous said...

@rumi

You should be ashamed of yourself by using the great Iranians name of Rumi and then spewing out your fascist anti Iranian dross on Uskowi claiming that "millions" of people support a backward fascist theocracy.Millions of people do exist in Iran and their voices are not heard because of a corrupt bloodthirsty regime that thinks might is right above reason and freedom.
Get your facts right.
Same goes to the other so called Iran supporters.

Anonymous said...

rumi.......Since you "love" Iran so much what are you doing here in the western world?
I know why I'm here because of a religious dictatorship that has taken over my country and is oppressing jailing and killing us. But why are you here since you are so keen on the Islamic theocratic autocracy??
And since when people like you and the regime that you support are "pro-Iran"?
Your fascist Islamic entity that rules Iran today is the most cruel and anti Iran regime in history.
If this barbaric fraternity of religious gangsters remain in our country there will be no Iran left by the time they finish with it.
You need to take your head out of the sand and look what they have done to Iran unless of course you are one of them.

Anonymous said...

"did you hear what I said about your M...M ?"

No I didn't hear and frankly I don't care what you say because you are irrelevant in the total sum of things.

Anonymous said...

Colorful langauage by our friend Rumi or not. THE FACT REMAINS THAT THE ISLAMIC REPUBLIC HAS THE MAJORITY OF PUBLIC SUPPORT and they can probably get over 90% support if the Mullahs lighten up and open up avenues for the highly educated youth and intellectual classes in terms of expression and less social restrictions.

The very FACT that most Iranians have rejected the US/Zionist destabilization efforts speaks volumes about US frustration as seen by the phone booth "opposition". The impotent US can not even manage Syria let alone instigate anti-Putin coup in Russia or "regime change" Tehran. Ain't happening folks. However keep dreaming.

Paul Iddon said...

Mark,

I have to hand it to you, you never fail to astound me, in fact most of the times you have me reading in awe.

The phone booth "opposition" eh!?

I know my country is a small one but in June 2009 there were nearly as many people demonstrating on the streets of Tehran as there are in my entire country. Now I'm no expert but I sincerely doubt that 3+ million people could fit in a phone booth, I mean how big of a phone booth are we talking about here?

Also, its interesting, you seemed content to say for the past month that 90% of the Iranian people support the regime, without feeling the need upon inquiry by me and several other skeptical readers to provide a single citation nor a single source, now you're saying the regime can "probably" get over 90%.

Your kind of obscurantists would have had us believe that Saddam Hussein really did have the full support of his people and that it was the oppressed Shia of the country that constituted his "phone booth opposition", or his fifth column as shameless and spineless apologists like George Galloway would have had us believe.

Anonymous said...

Anon 6:00 AM

If the majority of Iranian people support the Islamic theocracy how come on every street corner there are security forces in the dozens?
I presume they are there to keep an eye on the phone booth Mr Anon 90 percent??
The facts are Anon 90 percent that 90 percent of the Iranian people don't like the theocracy and wish it just to go away.
Maybe the opposition that fits in the phone booth are the sabzollahi Mousavi supporters who supports a slight change to the regime.
But the real opposition wants the removal of the regime in its entirety Mousavi and all the rest of the rubbish.