Iran MPs vow to continue sit-in
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Reformist lawmaker Elaheh Koulaei, right, was among those disqualified from seeking re-election.
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TEHRAN, Iran (Reuters) -- Iranian reformist MPs have vowed to continue a sit-in protest at parliament despite moves by Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei to cool a row over who can stand in next month's parliamentary elections.
Khamenei, who has the last word on all state matters, called on Wednesday on the Guardian Council, a powerful conservative watchdog, to review a decision to ban thousands of liberal candidates from the February 20 vote.
But reformist MPs said on Friday their sit-in, heading towards its sixth night, would continue until they saw concrete evidence that Khamenei's demand was being implemented.
"The sit-in will go on," said reformist MP Jamileh Kadivar. "We want guarantees of a free election with the presence of all the disqualified candidates."
The Guardian Council barred almost half of the 8,200 parliamentary hopefuls, mainly allies of pro-reform President Mohammad Khatami.
Those blocked included 80 of the standing 290 MPs.
More than 100 increasingly dishevelled reformist MPs are camped out in parliament anterooms, many of them now joined during the day by their families.
But their sit-in has drawn little sympathy from students, the vanguard of Iran's reformist protests, or the public, frustrated with reformers who have largely failed to deliver swift social and economic change.
MP Reza Yousefian said many lawmakers were still considering resignation.
"We have agreed to continue the sit-in. It is too soon to conclude if there are guarantees for what the Supreme Leader has asked for," he told Reuters.
Some MPs said they were already receiving conciliatory calls from the Guardian Council on their mobile phones but were giving the hardliners terse replies until a completely fair election was guaranteed.
Despite Khamenei's call for the Guardian Council to think again, analysts continue to believe the hardliners hold the stronger cards, because they can offer a compromise that would still weaken the liberal camp.
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Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
