Voters back Iran's hard man

Sydney Morning Herald

Jeffrey Fleishman and Ramin Mostaghim in Tehran

THE Iranian President's populism and attacks on the West trumped criticism of his handling of the nation's financial crisis as early results showed the hardline leader had won strong support in parliamentary elections.

Reformist parties opposed to Mahmoud Ahmadinejad stood little chance in Friday's voting. Hundreds of their members, including high-profile candidates, had been removed from the ballot by the Guardian Council, a body of clerics and jurists that scrutinises candidates for loyalty to the country's Islamic system.

Despite this, estimates suggest that reformists could retain 40 of their 50 legislative seats and remain a minority voice.

The Interior Minister, Mostafa Pour Mohammadi, said on Saturday that 71 per cent of the 290 seats in Parliament would go to conservative factions and 29 per cent to "other" groups.

Mr Mohammadi said 60 per cent of the country's 43 million voters turned out - a figure that ruling clerics described as a "glorious" defeat to the interests of the United States and other Western enemies.

Final results will be released today after votes from the capital, Tehran, and other cities are counted. However, Mr Mohammadi said the figures probably would not change by more than 2 or 3 percentage points.

The political gamesmanship now shifts to two factions within the conservative camp - one that supports Mr Ahmadinejad and another that blames him for high inflation and unemployment. Analysts said Mr Ahmadinejad's supporters appeared to have won more seats, a testament to his popular appeal in the provinces and his rhetoric against the West over Iran's nuclear enrichment program.

One of the conservatives opposed to the President, the former chief nuclear negotiator Ali Larijani, was elected to Parliament with more than 75 per cent of the vote. It is uncertain, however, if he can pull together a conservative coalition to balance the President's religious hardliners. Political allegiances in Parliament are often difficult to gauge; members are known to alter their ideologies when they take office.

Analysts say pressure on Mr Ahmadinejad could intensify if the economy worsens. The President's strategy of using oil revenue to fund building projects to patch deeper economic problems has led to a jump in inflation to about 18 per cent.

"The President will face more challenges with the next parliament than he did with the current one," said Mohammad Ali Abtahi, an ally of the reformist former president Mohammad Khatami.

Reformists spent Saturday assessing their marginalisation and how to be a small, but potent, minority. Reformists said, however, that they were winning more seats than anticipated and might end up with more than 60.

"The very presence of the reformers in the election campaign is a victory for them," said Reza Kaviyani, a reformist analyst. "The [conspiracy] was to delete them from any competition. So, even five or six reformers in the eighth Parliament can be good enough for the reformist struggle toward a further open society."

Pro-reform politicians have rebuked Mr Ahmadinejad for vitriolic speeches that have kept Iran on a collision course with the United Nations over Tehran's disputed nuclear plans. Mr Larijani has also queried the president's style.

However, Mr Ahmadinejad has won public backing from Iran's top authority, the Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who has explicitly endorsed his handling of the nuclear row.

The US, Iran's harshest Western critic, said the vetting process for candidates meant the outcome of voting in the world's fourth-largest oil-producing country was "cooked".