DATE=5/30/2000
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
TITLE=IRAN / PARLIAMENT (L-ONLY)
NUMBER=2-262960
BYLINE=LISA BRYANT
DATELINE=CAIRO
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO: The new Iranian parliament has chosen Muslim
cleric Mehdi Karroubi as its temporary speaker. Mr.
Karroubi, a former hard-liner who is said to be close
to President Mohammed Khatami, now holds the third
most powerful position in Iran. From Cairo, Lisa
Bryant reports.
TEXT: Mr. Karroubi was the only candidate fielded by
the moderate politicians who now dominate Iran's new
290-seat legislature. The mid-ranking cleric secured
one hundred eighty six votes. Sixty-three lawmakers
abstained from voting, and three others did not vote.
The lawmakers also elected two deputies as vice-
speakers of parliament. Both deputy speakers served in
the last legislature, and both are from Tehran. Like
Mr. Karroubi, their positions are also temporary.
But reports from Iran say Mr. Karroubi is almost
certain to become the permanent speaker of the
country's new, reformist parliament when a final
decision is made in June. It is a position that Mr.
Karroubi has held before, several years after the
country's 1979 Islamic revolution.
In fact, Iran's new parliament speaker is a veteran
politician who was once a leading revolutionary. Under
Iran's former leader, Ayatollah Khomeini, Mr. Karroubi
was appointed to several high-level government
positions. Those included serving as the Imam's
special representative for haj pilgrims -- or those
Iranian Muslims wanting to make the religious journey
to Saudi Arabia. But more recently, Mr. Karroubi has
been associated with the moderate line of President
Khatami.
Local Iranian media reports that the choice of Mr.
Karroubi and the vice speakers -- all lawmakers with
established political and revolutionary credentials --
indicates the new parliament may be following a
cautious political line, rather than that of more
radical reformists.
The top conservative choice for speaker -- former
Iranian President Hashemi Rafsanjani -- is out of the
running. Mr. Rafsanjani resigned from the parliament
last Thursday, amid speculation that voting had been
rigged to elect him to the assembly.
Iran's two top politicians -- President Khatami and
spiritual leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei -- have both
urged the new parliament to concentrate on improving
the economy and righting injustices. Ayatollah
Khamenei has also urged the new lawmakers to defend
the spirit of the Iranian revolution. (SIGNED)
NEB/LB/GE/KBK
30-May-2000 09:35 AM EDT (30-May-2000 1335 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
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