Legislative elections begin in Iran amid reformist boycott

With Agencie

Polls opened in Iran’s parliamentary elections on Friday, with the country’s 48 million voters being called out for
the first major voting since the disputed 2009 re-election of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and in what is seen as a test of the clerical establishment’s popularity amid a standoff with the West over the Islamic Republic’s nuclear ambitions. State media reported polling stations opened their doors to voters at 8 a.m. (04:30 GMT) and are due to close at 6 p.m. (14:30 GMT), which has been extended in past votes.

Nearly 47,000 polling stations throughout Iran take ballots for Iran’s 290-member parliament, a vote seen as a political battleground for competing conservative factions in the absence of major reformist parties, which were kicked out of power over the 2009 post-election riots.

The vote is unlikely to change Iran’s course, regardless of who wins but a high turnout will be seen as a major boost for Iran’s ruling Islamic system.

Leaders of the country’s reformist groups who boycott the elections have been under house arrest for a year.
The two top conservative groups, which were once united, have turned against each other after crushing reformists in the upheavals that followed Ahmadinejad’s disputed re-election.

The vote is also a curtain raiser for next year’s presidential election. A defeat for Ahmadinejad supporters would virtually guarantee a Khamenei loyalist as the next president and present a seamless front against Western efforts to curb Iran’s uranium enrichment program.

Khamenei, who has the final say on all state matters in Iran, urged the nation to vote in large numbers to disappoint Iran’s enemies.

“Because of controversies over Iran and increased verbal threats … the more people come to the polling stations the better,” Khamenei said on state TV after casting his ballot in Tehran early Friday.

“The higher turnout, the better for the future, prestige and security of our country,” he added. “The vote always carries a message for our friends and our enemies.”

A high turnout will be seen as a major boost for Iran’s ruling Islamic theocracy, showing popular support and allowing it to stand firm in the standoff over its nuclear program. The West suspects the program is geared toward making nuclear weapons, a charge Tehran denies, insisting it’s for peaceful purposes only, such as energy production.

The conservative split dates back to last year, when many conservatives turned into strong critics of Ahmadinejad after he dared challenge Khamenei over the choice of intelligence chief in April and also over Ahmadinejad’s policies.

A strong showing Friday for Ahmadinejad’s backers would throw him a political lifeline and the chance to exert some influence over the next presidential election. Anything less would be a slap to Ahmadinejad and assure the next presidency goes to a Khamenei loyalist.

Iran’s parliament carries more powers than most elected bodies in the Middle East, including setting budgets and having influential advisory committees such as national security and foreign affairs. The current parliament is led by a former nuclear negotiator, Ali Larijani.

But the chamber still lacks any direct ability to force policy decisions on Khamenei or the powerful forces under his control, including the Revolutionary Guard military establishment.