Skip to main content
CNN.com International
The Web    CNN.com      Powered by
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
ON TV
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
World

117 Iranian lawmakers resign

Iranian President Mohammad Khatami reportedly was in the hospital with back pain Saturday.
Iranian President Mohammad Khatami reportedly was in the hospital with back pain Saturday.

Story Tools

YOUR E-MAIL ALERTS
Follow the news that matters to you. Create your own alert to be notified on topics you're interested in.

Or, visit Popular Alerts for suggestions.

TEHRAN, Iran (CNN) -- Ahead of elections later this month, 117 reformist lawmakers resigned from Iran's parliament Sunday, protesting the conservative Guardian Council election commission's disqualification of reform candidates.

Parliament speaker Mehdi Karroubi made a scathing speech against members of the council, saying they were trying to usurp the power of the people by deciding which candidates can run for parliament on February 20.

Karroubi said the GC's role is to oversee elections, not decide who should run for office.

He urged Iran's hard-line Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei to intervene.

Next week, Karroubi said each of the lawmakers will address parliament, explaining why he has resigned. Then, the legislature will vote on whether to accept or reject the resignations. The process is expected to take about a week.

On Friday, the GC reversed its ban on about one-third of the candidates it had initially barred, the council said.

Overall, hundreds of potential reform candidates were summarily disqualified by the conservative GC. Reformers hold a significant majority.

Iran's Interior Minister Seyed Abdolvahed Mousavi Lari said Saturday that "the only decision made at the end of talks (with the GC) was to increase the number of disqualified (members of parliament) from 83 to 87," the state run news agency, IRNA, reported.

"Naturally, holding election would be out of question," Lari said.

Amid the impasse, Iran's moderate President Mohammed Khatami was hospitalized Saturday with a bad back, but appeared on Iranian television Sunday at an inauguration ceremony. (President hospitalized)

-- Journalist Shirzad Bozorgmehr contributed to this report


Story Tools
Click Here to try 4 Free Trial Issues of Time! cover
Top Stories
Iran poll to go to run-off
Top Stories
EU 'crisis' after summit failure
 
 
 
 

CNN US
On CNN TV E-mail Services CNN Mobile CNN AvantGo CNNtext Ad info Preferences
SEARCH
   The Web    CNN.com     
Powered by
© 2005 Cable News Network LP, LLLP.
A Time Warner Company. All Rights Reserved.
Terms under which this service is provided to you.
Read our privacy guidelines. Contact us.
external link
All external sites will open in a new browser.
CNN.com does not endorse external sites.
 Premium content icon Denotes premium content.