President Mohammad Khatami and Parliament Speaker Mehdi Karroubi on Saturday called for "a fundamental review in the earliest" of wholesale disqualifications, which bar many candidates from standing in February`s parliamentary elections. In a joint statement, the two officials described the rejections as "unworthy of the religious-democratic establishment" of the Islamic Republic and called for "healthy, free and competitive elections".
"We hope that the esteemed Guardians Council, above the existing psychological (campaign) and propaganda, will pave the way for healthy, free and competitive elections by reviewing the supervisory boards` rulings in the earliest," the statement said. |