Iranian Reformers Protest Election Moves

[whatelseisnew]

http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,1280,-3612117,00.html

By ALI AKBAR DAREINI

Associated Press Writer

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) - Dozens of reformist lawmakers who were barred by hard-liners from running in February legislative elections protested with a sit-in on Sunday as President Mohammad Khatami vowed to fight the ``senseless'' rulings.

Under Iran's constitution, the unelected Guardian Council, a constitutional watchdog controlled by hard-liners, vets would-be candidates in elections and can disqualify any it wishes.

Key members of the 12-seat council had vowed to disqualify many reformers who have opposed the absolute rule of Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who hand-picks the council's members.
...
``We are holding a sit-in inside the parliament building to protest the illegal decision of the Guardian Council to disqualify prominent reformers who have resisted hard-line dictatorship,'' reformist lawmaker Reza Yousefian, one of those disqualified, told The Associated Press.
...

[conservdem]

1. I hope the protest works and gets all or some of them on the ballot.