Khatami urges sound Iranian elections

Iranian President Mohammed Khatami urged yesterday sound parliamentary elections.

The Iranian Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA) quoted Khatami, who has seen some of his allies deprived from becoming candidates in the elections of the coming month, as saying that a publicly-elected parliament could contribute to a multilateral system of government so that the people can determine their own destiny.

Checking the candidates' papers resulted in excluding 11% of more than 6,800 candidates in the elections. Most of those excluded are among Khatami's supporters.

Khatami urged the constitution's supervision council, which supervises the elections, to support the law and to assure respect for the rights of the voters and the candidates, adding, "No one should feel that his right was taken away from him."