Opponents of Ahmadinejad fear bias in Iran vote

TEHRAN (Reuters) - Opponents of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad fear their prospects for a comeback in the March parliamentary election will be hurt by a vetting process likely to bar many of them from running, politicians said on Tuesday.

The vote is seen by many as a referendum on the policies of Ahmadinejad, who came to power in 2005 vowing to share out oil wealth fairly. But critics blame him for double-digit inflation.

Pro-reform politicians, who lost their majority in the assembly in 2004, fear many of their hopefuls will be disqualified by the Guardian Council, a conservative body that checks candidates for loyalty to Islamic revolutionary values and other criteria.

But candidates must also pass initial filtering by executive bodies like the intelligence and justice ministries.

"We are seriously concerned (about the vetting process)," said Hossein Marashi, spokesman for Kargozaran, a party close to former President Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani.

"They are acting so fast ... that it seems we are going to be happy with previous disqualification (numbers) by the Guardian Council," Marashi said, adding that given an open race "public opinion is closer to us".

Rafsanjani, a pragmatist at the centre of Iranian politics for three decades, has moved closer to pro-reform groups since Ahmadinejad beat him in the 2005 presidential race.

Reformists and other moderates have complained in past council, parliament and presidential races that voting was skewed against them because many of their candidates were disqualified, leaving the field to more hardline candidates.

CHANGE

The Guardian Council says it has no political bias and is implementing the Islamic Republic's regulations. Ahmadinejad's backers say the complaints are political "propaganda".

Presidential aide Aliakbar Javanfekr said voters were still disenchanted with the failure of reformists to deliver on their promises when they controlled the presidency and parliament.

Reformists say their bid to bring social and political change in office was blocked by the conservative establishment.

"If those extremists (among reformists) can pass the Guardian Council filter, they cannot pass the people's filter," Javanfekr said, adding that he still expected some change in the make-up of the 290-seat parliament.

The assembly is now dominated by a group that broadly backed Ahmadinejad in his 2005 presidential bid.

Ahmadinejad's critics say the president has delivered inflation of 19 percent, deterred investors and failed to tackle unemployment although Iran, the world's fourth largest oil producer, has earned windfall crude revenues.

The president has also been blamed for exacerbating Iran's nuclear row with the West by what his critics say is a confrontational style. Even some traditional conservatives have been lining up in opposition to the president's policies.

Figures have yet to emerge for total disqualifications. But the spokesman for reformist party Etemad-e Melli said early statistics suggested 70 percent of its hopefuls were barred.

Esmail Gerami-Moghaddam told the ISNA news agency that his party was "very concerned". Others expressed similar worries.

Some reformists fear more candidates will be blocked this year than previously. They have warned they might withdraw their list of preferred candidates, even if some run as independents, to protest in case of too many disqualifications.

"The government which is in power has facilities (to campaign), therefore we can't forecast the result. But I feel the general atmosphere of society wants change," said one political source close to the reformist camp.

But he said much will depend on voter turnout. "If 70 percent of people participate, we will win with a very big difference. With 60 percent, it will be less, and less than 50 percent will give us a very low chance," he said.

(Additional reporting by Parisa Hafezi; editing by Sami Aboudi)