Baku, Azerbaijan, Jan. 21
By Khalid Kazimov - Trend:
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani has criticized the conservative-dominated vetting body of the Guardian Council for failing to qualify a large number of reformist candidates to run for the upcoming parliamentary election, to be held on Feb. 26.
He questioned the legitimacy of the upcoming election in which a political group that is backed by a large number of people will not be allowed to participate, ISNA news agency reported Jan. 21.
"The Islamic Consultative Assembly [Iranian parliament] is the house of the nation, not a house for one political group," Rouhani said.
He also pledged to practice all of his authority as a president to probe into the extensive disapprovals.
The vetting body has disapproved almost 99 percent of reformist candidates who are close to President Rouhani's administration.
During a Jan. 9 speech, Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei urged people to show a high turnout at the election, saying "to protect the country and its credibility, everyone should cast vote in the elections even those individuals who don't believe in the system."
However, later on Jan. 20 following the reports regarding the extensive disapprovals, the supreme leader said he had called on the people to cast vote in election, including even those who don't accept the system, but he didn't mean sending those people into the parliament.