DATE=2/18/2000
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
TITLE=IRANIAN ELECTIONS (L-UPDATE)
NUMBER=2-259320
BYLINE=SCOTT BOBB
DATELINE=TEHRAN
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO: Huge numbers of Iranians have taken part in
elections for a new national parliament. Voting was
extended for two hours, and many polling stations were
still crowded after nightfall. The Interior Ministry
says the balloting was orderly. V-O-A correspondent
Scott Bobb has been visiting polling stations in
Tehran and has this report.
TEXT: Many Iranians heeded the call of their leaders
and went to the polls early on Friday. Queues formed
in the morning outside the country's 36-thousand
polling centers and election officials reported a high
turnout.
Iran's Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, was one
of the first in the country to vote. He cast his
ballot near his home in central Tehran.
/// KHAMENEI ACT IN FARSI, FADE UNDER ///
Ayatollah Khamenei told state television the election
is a test, a divine duty and an opportunity to
exercise a personal right. He urged voters to enhance
the system and choose candidates who are most useful
to the country.
President Mohammed Khatami also cast his vote early.
/// KHATAMI ACT IN FARSI, FADE UNDER ///
The Iranian president called the election a historic
day. He said voting is a national right and a
religious duty. And added that the larger the
turnout, the more parliament will be representative.
Iranian experts say a majority of the 38-million
eligible voters were expected to cast ballots in what
is seen as a referendum on the president's reformist
program of greater social and political freedoms.
At a polling station in the large Atisaz housing
project near the center of Tehran, men and women
queued separately to cast their ballots at the local
religious community center [Husseiniye]. Mohammed
Bagharabouzeh expressed satisfaction over the vote,
saying it was the freest election to date.
/// BAGHARABOUZEH ACT ///
So far so good. Still it is not ideal
for Iranian people, but it's much better
than before. We hope it gets much better in
the future.
/// END ACT ///
Outside, a young woman named Jamila Kourbani
accompanying her parents from the polling center said
the turnout would be high.
/// JAMILA ACT IN FARSI, WITH ENGLISH TRANSLATION ///
I think the participation is going quite
Well, because people want to have an impact
on their destiny and have people who they
want find their way into the parliament.
/// END ACT ///
Iranians are to choose 290 members of parliament from
a slate of more than five-thousand candidates.
/// REST OPT ///
A professor of political science at Tehran University,
Nasser Hadiani, told V-O-A Friday he expects the
reformists to win at least 40 percent and
conservatives to win 20 to 30 percent of the seats in
parliament. He predicts centrists will win 25 to 30
percent of the seats, and says having a strong bloc of
moderates in the parliament is not a bad idea.
/// HADIANI ACT ///
If they (the centrists) are not there, the
Iranian political scene will be very much
polarized. We have a majority of the
reformists on the one hand, which do not
control coercive resources, like police,
army, Revolutionary Guard, judiciary,
whatever. And we have a minority of
conservatives, which are very powerful and
controlling all these coercive (resources)
and a lot of economic resources.
/// END ACT ///
Professor Hadiani says with a strong center, the
parliament is less likely to become polarized, and the
conservatives will be more inclined, he says, to play
by democratic rules.
Reformist candidates say their first priority is to
change laws restricting freedom of the press and
speech. They also want to change the system whereby
panels of conservatives can veto laws and candidates.
Many conservatives have acknowledged some change is
needed, but they are expected to oppose changes that
they feel undermine the principles of the Iranian
revolution. (Signed)
NEB/SB/GE/KL/WTW
18-Feb-2000 15:02 PM EDT (18-Feb-2000 2002 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
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