March 2, 2003	Sunday	Zul Hijjah 28, 1423

TEHRAN, March 1: Conservative candidates loyal to Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Khamenei were set to sweep elections for Tehran’s city council on Saturday, in what would be a setback for reformist President Mohammad Khatami.

Tehran Governor Ali Osat-Hashemi told the state IRNA news agency that conservative candidates were set to grab 14 of the council’s 15 seats on the basis of a partial count following the previous day’s polls.

However, conservatives may have to pause before celebrating since Osat-Hashemi indicated that only 25 per cent of the capital’s 4.6 million eligible voters took part, indicating that many were either disinterested or disillusioned by rampant political infighting.

One electoral official quoted by IRNA said turnout in the city may have been as low as 15 per cent.

The Tehran polls were part of voting for thousands of town and city councils across the country. Some 210,000 candidates, including 5,000 women, were standing for 905 city councils and 34,205 village councils.

The elections were widely seen as a popularity test for President Khatami and his policy of gradual reform, after massive victories in successive presidential, parliamentary and local elections since 1997.

Much of the disillusionment is due to mounting frustration with the reformists, who dominate parliament but have had their agenda blocked by the conservatives, who control key state institutions.

The confidence of Tehran voters in the reformists is also likely to have dropped following the dissolution of the city council in January after it was paralysed by infighting.

Following low-key campaigns, many voters also apparently boycotted the poll to show their frustration with the factional feuding and a feeling their main demands — a better economy, more jobs and personal freedoms — would not be met whether they voted or not.

Reformers previously held all 15 seats on the capital’s council after seeeping Iran’s first municipal elections in 1999, when they stood on a common list.—AFP