IRAN: A third of Iran's parliament resigned in protest yesterday following the refusal by conservative hardliners to reinstate thousands of candidates disqualified from standing in this month's parliamentary elections.
In a dramatic parliamentary session yesterday morning, 109 reformist politicians lined up one by one in front of the parliamentary speaker, Mr Mehdi Karroubi, and handed in their resignation letters. By the end of the day, 123 out of 290 MPs had resigned.
Following weeks of resignation threats and warnings, the bold move by Iran's reformists threatened to raise the country's political crisis to a new level.
"They want to cover the ugly body of dictatorship with the beautiful dress of democracy. We have no choice but to resign," said reformist MP Mr Mohsen Mirdamadi following the resignations. "We feel duty-bound to resist this deviation, and we are confident that the victory will ultimately come to the people."
The crisis began on January 11th when the Guardian Council, an unelected body of hardline conservatives, barred 3,600 largely reformist candidates from the February 20th elections. Since then, over 80 reformist MPs have been holding a sit-in at the parliament buildings.
Amid charges that the conservatives were trying to rig the elections, the Guardian Council reinstated 1,160 candidates last Friday. But, with over 2,000 candidates still disqualified, the reformists say their demands for free elections have not been met.
Yesterday, however, the Guardian Council remained unimpressed with the reformists' reaction. "Today's resignations and the comments of disqualified deputies show the Guardian Council has done its duty accurately," the official IRNA news agency quoted a council official as saying.
Some analysts said the resignations were largely symbolic and legally tenuous.
"It is mainly a political move," said political analyst Mr Hossein Rassam. "These resignations cannot happen according to the by-law of parliament. Any action that renders the parliament ineffective cannot be accepted. The reformists know that."
With both sides in the conflict digging in their heels, there was increasing speculation that the country's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, might have to intervene.
"They have not yet reached complete deadlock," said Mr Rassam. "But they have now reached the stage where the supreme leader will finally have to step in."
The timing of the resignations could not be worse for the theocratic leadership. Yesterday, as the MPs tendered their resignations, school bells rang out across the country in celebration of the 25th anniversary of the return to Iran of the founder of the Islamic republic, Ayatollah Khomeini.