[Ha'aretz] Zvi Bar'el - As was to be expected, during the second round of parliamentary elections held on Saturday, the representatives of the extremist stream that support Iran's president won a majority. But this success does not diminish the criticism that Mahmoud Ahmadinejad - who will come up for re-election next year - is facing. Ahmadinejad has dismissed nine ministers since he was sworn in as president in 2005. The head of the country's judiciary, Mahmoud Hashemi Shahroudi, who was appointed to his post by the Iranian spiritual leader Ali Khamenei, and who is not subject to election, has made an unprecedented direct and public attack on Ahmadinejad. The president also finds himself in serious confrontation with the chairman of the parliament, Gholam-Ali Haddad-Adel, whose daughter is married to the son of the all-powerful Khamenei. In next year's presidential elections, Haddad-Adel is likely to present his candidacy against Ahmadinejad.
2008-05-02 01:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive