Iran reformists say most of its candidates barred

By Zahra Hosseinian

TEHRAN (Reuters) - Iran's main reformist coalition said on Saturday government bodies had barred the vast majority of its key candidates from running in next month's parliamentary election but that it still planned to contest the vote.

The Coalition of Reformist Groups criticized a hardline election watchdog which vets candidates for failing to ensure a competitive race in the March 14 vote in the Islamic Republic.

The election for parliament, now dominated by the conservative backers of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, will test the popularity of the hardline president who came to power vowing to share out oil wealth more fairly but failed to curb inflation.

"In a surprising and organized act, (government) committees barred 90 percent of our key candidates throughout the country," Coalition spokesman Abdollah Naseri told a news conference.

The reformist grouping could now only hope to run for some 67 out of 290 seats up for grabs but it would still "compete in the election ... as much as it can despite all the limitations it faces," he said.

Candidates face a vetting process by government committees and the conservative-controlled Guardian Council, which has stopped hundreds of reformists running in past votes. The council can reinstate those banned during initial screening.

In a preliminary filtering process, more than 2,000 of the 7,200 who registered were barred. The Guardian Council can reinstate hopefuls or bar others based on criteria such as loyalty to the Islamic system.

COMPETITIVE ELECTION