Hossein Mohammadi

We have spoken about the upcoming parliamentary elections with Mohammad Atrianfar, one of ‎the most prominent members of the pragmatist Kargozaran-e Sazandegi political party, near to ‎former president Hashemi Rafsanjani. Below is an excerpt of this interview. ‎

Rooz (R): Given the scope of disqualifications, what is your party's stance toward elections?‎

Mohammad Atrianfar (MA): We will make a decision with respect to the election in our ‎coalition meetings with fellow reformist groups. Currently, we have to wait a little more for the ‎final results of the Guardian Council's review of candidates. If it is possible to compete in ‎election districts, which top 200 in the country, the Servants of Construction will participate in ‎the elections along with other reformist groups.‎

‎(R): What do you think the final outcome of qualifications will be?‎

‎(MA): Based on preliminary estimates, we hope to compete in more than 50 percent of districts ‎where races are competitive. ‎

‎(R): You said it is possible to compete in more than 50 percent of races. This runs counter to ‎figures released by the Mojahedeen-e Enghelab Party or the Participation Front.‎

‎(MA): Their figures are computed based on disqualifications by the Ministry of Interior's ‎administrative committees. Some candidates have been able to overturn their disqualification ‎after complaining to the Guardian Council's oversight committees. ‎

‎(R): Are you saying that we have good news about the qualification of reformist candidates?‎

‎(MA): The Ministry of Interior's administrative committees have disqualified an unprecedented ‎number of candidates since the Revolution. In past elections, administrative committees ‎disqualified 3 to 5 percent of the candidates. However, more than 30 percent of candidates were ‎disqualified by the administrative committees this time around. In other words, administrative ‎committees disqualified ten times more candidates this time than they did before! From that ‎number, about 65 to 70 percent are reformists. More importantly, most of the prominent ‎reformist candidates are among them. ‎

‎(R): Has anyone from inside the government protested these disqualifications? ‎

‎(MA): Some of the regime's top officials have warned the Guardian Council and oversight ‎committees not to overstep their legal boundaries. These warnings have resulted in reversing the ‎disqualification of several reformist candidates, and we hope for there to be minimal competitive ‎conditions. ‎

‎(R): Have Mr. Hashemi Rafsanjani played a role in negotiations to reverse some decisions?‎

‎(MA): Mr. Rafsanjani played the most important role in these negotiations from day one. His ‎efforts have been very effective in qualifying many candidates. However, efforts by Mr. ‎Karoubi and Mr. Khatami have been also helpful. ‎