World

Moderates Score In Iran Poll

February 28, 1999 / 1:56 PM EST / AP

Hard-line opponents of Iran's reformist President Mohammad Khatami appeared headed for defeat in the first local elections in 20 years, newspapers reported Sunday.

Women were reported to be the front-runners in at least 20 cities, and nearly all of the successful female candidates were supporters of Khatami, who has encouraged women to play a bigger role in political life.

Nearly every newspaper reported that pro-Khatami candidates were the leaders for the 15 seats in Tehran. The city is seen as a key test in the struggle between hard-liners and moderates in the government.

Election officials had counted nearly 10 million votes, or 40 percent of the ballots, by Sunday night, Tehran radio reported, quoting the Interior Ministry, which is supervising the poll.

The ministry says final results may not come for days, especially in larger cities like Tehran.

About 330,000 candidates ran for some 200,000 seats on municipal councils in Friday's voting, the first local election since the 1979 Islamic revolution.

About 25 million Iranians, about 60 percent of the electorate, voted. In some town and cities the turnout was so high that polling stations ran out of ballots and voting hours were extended twice.

"Iran's political picture looks set to change," the moderate newspaper Emrooz said in a banner headline Sunday.

Khatami supporters were ahead in 11 of Iran's 28 provinces, another moderate newspaper, Akhbar, reported.

The hard-line Tehran Times braced its readers for a victory by Khatami allies, urging that people forgive and forget efforts by "rogue elements" to manipulate the polls.

In Tehran, former Interior Minister Abdollah Nouri, a well-known Khatami loyalist, had received the largest number of votes by midday Sunday, said an official at the election headquarters.

Hard-liners in parliament forced Nouri out of the Interior Ministry last year because of the energy with which he pursued Khatami's policy of greater social, political and cultural freedom. They unsuccessfully tried to disqualify Nouri from running in the local elections.

Women look to Khatami, a moderate cleric, to improve their social standing. They were instrumental in Khatami's victory against a hard-line rival in the May 1997 presidential election.

Since taking office, Khatami has appointed a woman as one of his vice presidents and chosen several other women as presidential advisers.

The hard-liners opposed to Khatami want to maintain Iran as a patriarchal Islamic society. In the parliament, which was elected in 1996, there are only 14 women among 270 members.

Young Iranians, who make up a majority of Iran's 60 million people, seek a relaxation of the strict Islamic laws that ban Western music and Western satellite channels.

Abbas Razdvi, a 16-year-old voter, said, "My vote is a vote for Mr. Khatami because I want things to change. I wnt to do what other normal kids like me are doing around the world. I want to be able to wear what I want, to listen to the kind of music I want and to have a girlfriend."