Turnout called key to credibility of Iran=20 vote

Borzou = Daragahi,=20 Chronicle Foreign Service

Saturday, February 21, 2004

Printable=20 Version=20
Email=20 This Article

Tehran -- With reformists calling for an = election=20 boycott over manipulation of candidate lists, Iranians went to the = polls=20 Friday for a hotly debated vote that is expected to hand over = control of=20 parliament to religious conservatives.=20

Despite a huge get-out-the-vote effort by the country's ruling=20 theocracy, early signs suggested a moderate turnout, which could = cast=20 doubt on the legitimacy of the new government. The final tally of = the=20 handwritten ballots may take days to tabulate.=20

"There's no way I'm going to vote this time," said Amir = Farmani, a=20 public works engineer who spent the day shopping with his family.=20

"I don't believe in the system. I'd like a system like France = or=20 England, where anyone can vote for anyone.''=20

Reuters news agency quoted an anonymous Interior Ministry = official as=20 estimating nationwide turnout at between 47 and 52 percent, well = below the=20 benchmark set in 2000, when 67 percent of eligible voters turned = up and=20 reformers emerged victorious.=20

Elections in 1997, 2000 and 2001 left Iran's government in the = hands of=20 reformists, setting off a struggle between the nation's = conservative=20 Islamic rulers and elected officials. Last month, the game came to = an=20 abrupt end when a fundamentalist watchdog group called the = Guardian=20 Council barred more than 2, 000 candidates from running in the = elections.=20 More than a thousand more withdrew their candidacies in protest.=20

Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the unelected cleric who = controls all the military, intelligence and judiciary exhorted = Iranians to=20 vote, saying it would be a slap at "the enemy" -- a catch phrase = for the=20 United States. And at Friday prayers, the head of the Guardian = Council=20 told worshipers: "Every vote you put in the ballot box is like an = arrow=20 you are shooting at the heart of George Bush."=20

Because the hard-line judiciary had closed the country's two = main=20 reformist newspapers Wednesday, reformists tried to get out the = message=20 about their ballot boycott by using the Internet and text messages = sent=20 via cell phones.=20

"The ballot box is the coffin for freedom," read one text = message.=20

An election victory for conservatives would give hard-liners = control at=20 a critical time for the region. Fellow Shiite Muslims in = neighboring Iraq=20 are pressing for early elections there, and Washington and its = allies are=20 questioning Iran's denials about nuclear arms technology.=20

Most of those interviewed at Tehran polling places said they = were not=20 supporters of President Mohammad Khatami, the reformist president = twice=20 elected with huge majorities. Indeed, many of the president's = onetime=20 supporters branded him a coward for failing to stand up to the=20 conservatives. Khatami, a 66-year-old mid-level cleric whose term = will end=20 in 2005, had backed off earlier threats to join the boycott and = seemed out=20 of touch with his constituents as he cast his vote Friday.=20

"What is important now is that people participate," he told = reporters.=20 "God willing, with the massive turnout of voters, we will witness = a=20 surprise.''=20

His supporters expressed discouragement.=20

"In the end, Khatami turned out to be just like the = conservatives,"=20 said Sassan Haghighpour, a long-haired medical student walking = past a=20 mosque that doubled as a voting center. "He betrayed his = supporters.''=20

During the day, polling centers were barren in Tehran's modern, = wealthy=20 north, where reformists dominate. But at night, lines began to = form as the=20 Interior Ministry extended the 6 p.m. closing time to 10 p.m. to = catch the=20 last stragglers. On the other side of the demographic spectrum, in = the=20 city's south, the country's pious poor lined up to vote in droves. =

Critics said many voters simply cast ballots according to = directives by=20 conservative groups like the Basiji militia, which answers to = Khamenei.=20

"The right-wingers just declare that the Basijis have = recommended these=20 candidates," said Mohammad Hossein Salavati, a reformist candidate = in=20 Mashad. "And the right-wingers say, 'It's our duty to vote for = these=20 candidates.' There's no thinking or research.''=20

Analysts predicted that the Developers of Islamic Iran, a group = of=20 hard- liners, would be the new dominant political force in the = country.=20 The group's leader, lawmaker Gholamali Haddad Adel, is a relative = of=20 Khamenei.=20

Adel said Friday that reintroducing Islamic restrictions "is = not our=20 main or our first priority.'' But he added that disaffected, = nonreligious=20 youth are "our main problem.''=20

Though the right wing retains its hard core of supporters, the = Guardian=20 Council action has generated outspoken new enemies.=20

At the Ershad Hosseiniyeh, a mosque often used for reformist = events,=20 Farhad Eslahi pushed his way through a crowd. "This election is a = sham,"=20 he declared before a crowd of the current government's supporters. = "This=20 election is not worthy of the Iranian people."=20

However, Ali Beheshti, a representative of the Guardian Council = who was=20 watching over a polling center in central Tehran, insisted that = those who=20 did not plan to vote -- even those angry over the candidacy crisis = -- were=20 violating the national trust. Despite political differences, = Iranians are=20 all part of one family, he said.=20

"There are times in a family when there are differences of = opinion=20 between a brother and sister," he said. "We have to tolerate each = other=20 and, to the extent that we can, save the family.''=20

Qollama Taqizadeh, who was queued up to vote in southern = Tehran, the=20 stronghold of religious conservatives, agreed.=20

"It's important to vote to show Iran's enemies that Iranians = have blood=20 in their veins," he said.=20

"I don't belong to any political group or faction," he added. = "I'm a=20 supporter of God.''=20

Chronicle news services contributed to this report. =

Page A - 14

=20

Get 50% off home delivery of the Chronicle for 12=20 weeks!

BIOTECHNOLOGY=20: Biologist II and more...ALZA=20; ALZA Corporation
COMMUNITY AFFAIRS=20: The East Bay MUD seeks a = talented..=20; East Bay Municipal Utility = District=20
COMPUTER=20: TECHNICAL PROJECT MANAGER=20; Perceptive Informatics =
CONSTRUCTION=20: Project Mgr Estimator
CUSTOMER=20: SERVICE FULL TIME $2000+/Mo. Set =
DENTAL=20: Dentist needed for Santa Rosa. New =
DENTAL=20: FRONT OFFICE F/T Position avail =
DENTAL=20: Lrg prof'l fast-paced Palo =
DENTAL=20: ASSISTANTS for PT/FT sales=20; Neon=20 Brite
EDUCATION=20: NOW HIRING=20; San Jose State University =
EDUCATION=20: NOW HIRING=20; San Carlos School District =
EDUCATION=20: Sargent-Welch division of VWR In=20; Sargent-Welch
EDUCATION=20: Open Postions=20; San Francisco Art Institute =
EDUCATION=20: NOW HIRING=20; Spectrum Center
EDUCATION=20: Menlo School , seeks =

About=20 Top Jobs=20
View All Top Jobs =

Back=20 To Top

=A92005 San = Francisco=20 Chronicle | Feedback | RSS Feeds | FAQ | Contact

Tacoda_AMS_DDC_addPair("site","sfgate") Tacoda_AMS_DDC_addPair("section","news||")=