Judiciary will act against illegal parties: minister

Talking to reporters on the sidelines of a visit to the Imam Jafar Sadeq seminary in Karaj, Pourmohammadi said as the date of legislative elections is approaching, only those parties which have official permit could engage in electoral political activities.

In light of the advice of the Supreme Leader who has urged candidates’ supporters not to smear rivals, the Election Supervisory Committee would monitor the elections more carefully, he said.

The Clause 10 commission which groups interior and intelligence ministries and the Judiciary would act against the parties which break the law and defame rival candidates.

 Fundamentalists urged to be more united

Political secretary of the Hezbollah Coalition, Hossein Kan'ani-Moqaddam, has urged the conservative groups to be more united and avoid unilateralism.

"I call on all fundamentalist groups to act in the framework of fundamentalism," he said in an interview with the Mehr News Agency.

"The goal of fundamentalist movements is to pave the ground for people' active participation in the 2008 legislative election and introduce the most qualified candidates," he noted.

Hezbollah Coalition's main option is to put Ali Larijani on the top of its candidate list, he said. However, he added that conservative groups are negotiating with the former nuclear negotiator to persuade him to run for the parliament.

Reza Talaei-Nik, the secretary general of the newly-founded Islamic Iran Development and Justice Party (IIDJP), also told the Mehr that following the efforts by his party and other groups there is now more hope that Larijani would accept to contest the elections.

IIDJP also keeps negotiating with other political figures to encourage them to stand for March elections, the sitting MP said.

He argued that a strong competition for the Majlis seats will lead to a high turnout in the polls.

 NCP releases statement

National Confidence Party on Saturday released a statement calling for holding an organized and systematic election.

The statement also calls on all parties and candidates to observe ethics and do not disgrace and smear rival candidates.

It should not be forgotten that the quality of holding the election overweighs the quantity of people's participation, it says.

If the officials responsible for holding the elections, supervisors, candidates and parties observe the ethical and legal principals and help to hold a free and fair election, the people will turn out in great numbers and foil enemies' plots, it states.

 Parties will monitor election process

Political parties can have representatives in the Interior Ministry election commission so that they would be able to monitor the election process directly.

Some ex-administration officials will run for parliament

The spokesman for the reformist coalition, Abdollah Naseri, told a press conference on Saturday that most of the officials and members of the former president Mohammad Khatami’s cabinet will contest the March election.

At the present the reformist coalition would not put anybody on top of its candidate list, Naseri said.

Former energy minister Habibollah Bitaraf said all reformist groups believe in observing the law in all stages of election.

Asked about the reformists’ stance on the nuclear issue, Bitaraf said the Foreign Ministry has not been able to handle the issue cleverly two years and ward off economic sanctions.

“Iran never deserved such sanctions,” he added.

Naseri also said that more than 50 percent of nuclear achievements have been achieved during Khatami’s administration.

EK/PA

END

MNA