January 22-2016
The latest review of applications from those wishing to run for the Majlis has rejected 60 percent of those who filed—but 99 percent of the Reformist candidates were rejected.
Hossain Marashi, an official of the Reformist campaign organization, told Sharq daily that 3,000 Reformist candidates had filed. He said all but 30 had been rejected.
That means that even if all 30 won seats, they would barely hold 10 percent of the membership of the 290-seat Majlis.
The Reformists had so many people file applications in the hopes that at least one would survive the review for each of the 290 seats.
Marashi said only four candidates were approved for the 30 seats from Tehran, where the Reformists have some hope of a sweep—if they can field 30 candidates.
The Central Elections Supervising Committee announced Monday that it had completed its review of the more than 12,000 applications and had approved 4,700 or about 40 percent. That would average 16 candidates per seat.
The announcement did not detail why applicants were rejected or reveal how many women were approved or give any breakdown by party. It said some applicants were rejected because they had criminal records or because they had failed to file some of the required documentation, such as proof they had at least a master’s degree, which is a new requirement this year.
This is not the end of the road for the Reformists, however. All the applications—both those rejected and those accepted by the Central Elections Supervising Committee—now go to the 12-man Council of Guardians, which will make the final decisions on who can and who cannot be a candidate.
One benefit of the mass disqualification of Reformists is that the Reformists can now appeal to the Council of Guardians and also try to organize public objections over the mass disqualifications. It is widely expected that the Guardians will approve more than 30 Reformists. However, it does not mean they will approve at least one Reformist in each constituency. The final list is slated now to be completed February 4, three weeks ahead of the February 26 balloting.
The Reformists’ High Council for the Elections made a public appeal Monday to the Council of Guardians to allow more Reformist candidates.
Vice President Elham Aminzadeh said President Rohani would “negotiate” with the Council of Guardians to “defend the rights of the rejected candidates in case mistakes were made.”
Not only Reformists were rejected. Ali Motahari, a long time Majlis deputy who is officially a conservative but actually has some very eclectic views, announced that his candidacy had been rejected as well. He didn’t say if he was told why he was rejected.
