Reformists criticize Iranian council

Iran’s hard-line constitutional watchdog said Wednesday that it had reinstated more than 280 candidates for parliament races next month, but reformists said many remained banned and that the move was not enough to ensure a fair election.

The Guardian Council’s reversal came amid growing criticism by both reformists and conservatives that a wide ban on eligible candidates would risk a low voter turnout and undermine the polling.

The disqualification of reformist candidates removed a big challenge to hard-liners vying for parliament seats. The elections are seen as a key test of hard-line President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s hold on power and a harbinger of the 2009 presidential election.

Those reinstated included the grandson of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, founder of Iran’s Islamic Republic. Ali Eshraghi had been among hundreds excluded for allegedly not being loyal enough to the principles of the 1979 Islamic Revolution and hard-line interpretations of Islamic rule.

But reformists said the reinstatements didn’t go far enough. “It doesn’t change anything. The reversal for reformists is too little to create the fewest conditions for a free and fair election,” said reformist leader Saeed Shariati.

Esmaeil Gerami Moghaddam of the reformist National Confidence Party said only 25 of those reinstated were considered reformers.

The Interior Ministry, run by hard-liners close to Ahmadinejad, last month disqualified more than 2,000 prospective candidates -- most of them reformers -- from running in the March 14 election.