TEHRAN (Reuters) - An Iranian hardline vetting body has reinstated another 250 barred candidates from running for the country's March parliament election, the official IRNA news agency reported on Tuesday.
The vote for 290-seat parliament, dominated by hardlinePresident Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's supporters, is a test for thepopularity of the president who came to power in 2005 vowing toshare out oil wealth more fairly but failed to curb hikinginflation.
Moderate politicians and some of Ahmadinejad's backers havecomplained over the disqualification of more than 2,000 of the7,200 registered hopefuls, initially barred by governmentcommittees.
The spokesman for the Guardian Council said thosereinstated were from different political parties, including thereformist camp.
"The Guardian Council has reinstated another 251 initiallyrejected candidates for the upcoming vote," the spokesmanAbbasali Kadkhodai told IRNA, increasing the number to a totalof 831.
Potential candidates face a vetting process in Iran. Thosewho pass the filter of government committees have to beapproved by the conservative-run Guardian Council, which hasstopped hundreds of reformists running in past votes.
The council has the power to reinstate those banned duringinitial screening or bar more hopefuls based on criteria suchas loyalty to the Islamic system.
Iran's main reformist coalition earlier this weekcriticised the council for failing to ensure a competitiverace, insisting it still planned to contest the vote.
It was not clear how many moderate candidates were amongthose reinstated and the spokesman for the Coalition ofReformist Groups was not immediately available for comment.
The final list of eligible candidates will be announced inthe first week of March.
Parliament does not draw up policy on major issues such asIran's nuclear row with the West, but analysts say the resultwill indicate Ahmadinejad's chance of re-election in 2009.(Writing by Zahra Hosseinian; Editing by Ibon Villelabeitia)