Reformers headed for victory over hard-liners in Iran ballot

Female candidates reportedly lead in 20 cities

February 28, 1999
Web posted at: 7:26 p.m. EST (0026 GMT)

TEHRAN, Iran (CNN) -- Hard-line conservative candidates appear headed for a significant defeat in local elections in Iran -- a triumph for moderate President Mohammad Khatami and his allies who want to liberalize Iran socially and politically.

While the Interior Ministry has yet to release official results from Friday's ballot, nearly every newspaper reported Sunday that pro-Khatami candidates were leading in Tehran and in other cities across the country. Even hard-line newspapers were bracing readers for a pro-Khatami victory.

"Iran's political picture looks set to change," the moderate newspaper Emroos said in a banner headline Sunday.

In another major development, women were reported to be front-runners for local posts in at least 20 cities. Nearly all are supporters of Khatami, who has encouraged women to play a bigger role in Iran's political life.

Reform candidates said to lead in Tehran, Isfahan

The moderate newspaper Akhbar reported that Khatami supporters were ahead in 11 of Iran's 28 provinces. Local journalists in the city of Isfahan -- the scene of political tensions between reformers and hard-liners -- reported that pro-Khatami candidates appeared poised to capture seven of 11 seats in the city government, with the rest going to conservatives.

The Interior Ministry said about 40 percent of the ballots had been counted by Sunday night and that final results may not come for days in Tehran and other large cities. About 25 million Iranians had participated in the balloting for nearly 200,000 posts. There were 330,000 candidates running.

As the counting continued in Tehran, former Interior Minister Abdollah Nouri, a reformer who is despised by the hard-line clerical establishment, had received the largest number of votes, an election official told The Associated Press at midday Sunday.

Hard-liners in parliament forced Nouri out of the Interior Ministry last year because of the energy with which he pursued Khatami's policy of greater social, political and cultural freedom. They unsuccessfully tried to disqualify him from running in the local elections.

Election barometer of public mood

Khatami's supporters hope the elections will loosen the conservatives' grip and boost the president's standing. Amid a bitter debate over the country's future direction, the race has been seen as a barometer of the public mood.

Khatami won by a landslide in the May 1997 presidential election with strong support from women and young voters. He appealed to those same voters to support reform candidates in the local election.

Women look to Khatami to improve their social standing. Since taking office, he has appointed a woman as one of his vice presidents and chosen several others as presidential advisers.

That hasn't sat well with hard-liners who want to maintain Iran as a patriarchal society based on a strict interpretation of Islam. In parliament, where hard-liners make up a majority, there are only 14 women among 270 members.

The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.

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