Ahmadinejad faces sharper scrutiny

Tehran: Iran's reformists on Saturday hailed their performance in parliamentary elections as a "remarkable success", saying they would hold around 20 per cent of seats despite the mass vetoing of their best candidates.

Till reports last came in, conservatives were leading with 120 seats against 46 for their reformist opponents in the election for Iran's 290-seat parliament, Iran's state Press TV said, citing the Interior Ministry. Four seats had gone to independents and 30 more would go to run-off votes.

The 46 reformist seats takes them beyond the 40 or so they had in the outgoing parliament. "We announce with honour that we gained victory in an unequal election," Abdullah Nasseri, spokesman for the reformist coalition, said, adding that 70 per cent of seats had been "predetermined" for conservatives.

Conservative opponents of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad also made a strong showing in the elections. A slate seen as representing Ahmadinejad's conservative critics seized 40 of the 120 seats won by the hardliners.

The Interior Ministry put turnout in Friday's vote at around 60 per cent — up from 51 per cent in 2004 parliament elections.

Reformists had bitterly complained in the run-up to Friday's election that the disqualification of hundreds of their candidates in pre-election vetting had wrecked their chances of wresting control of parliament from conservatives.

Reformists were only able to compete for less than half the seats in the 290-member parliament, a virtual re-run of the fate they suffered in 2004.

But Nasseri predicted that the reformists would win almost 50 seats outside of Tehran. The capital has 30 seats up for grabs. The figures appear to confirm that reformists will hold on to a respect-able minority in parliament despite the clear conservative victory in the polls.

The pressure of an increasingly vocal reformist camp and frictions between the president and his former supporters disillusioned by his fiery, populist rule could pose a major challenge for Ahmadinejad in the new assembly.

Iranian political analysts said splits had opened up among conservatives — who range from Islamic revolutionaries like Ahmadinejad, to his more pragmatic critics — jockeying for position before the 2009 race for the presidency.

Nasseri praised the role of former president Mohammad Khatami, the champion of reform in Iran, who was the driving force behind the coalition.

"Despite all the restrictions, as we forecast and as Mohammad Khatami said, we managed to disturb the game of our opponents. What is important is that Khatami was accepted inside and outside Iran as the symbol of reform. He must play a more important role in the future," he added.