Detained Iranian opposition leader Mehdi Karroubi says there is no place for reformists in the coming parliamentary elections.
Esmail Gerami Moghaddam, the spokesman for Karroubi’s National Trust Party, told Saham News that the opposition leader told his eldest son during their last meeting that “there is no place for reformists in the next parliamentary elections, where only principalists will be competing.”
The conservative faction of the Islamic Republic establishment is sometimes referred to as the principalists.
Karroubi has been under house arrest since last February. He and the other opposition leader, MirHosein Mousavi, as well as their wives, have been under house arrest and denied any access to the outside world.
Mousavi had told his daughter during their last visit that in view of the regime’s oppressive policies, no good can come from participating in the elections.
Gerami Moghaddam added that since the National Trust party has not been allowed to hold any meetings, he can make no firm statements regarding the parliamentary elections. But he added that the party does support the conditions for participation laid out by former president Mohammad Khatami.
Khatami has called for the release of all political prisoners, the opening of of the political atmosphere as well as an open and transparent election process as the basic conditions for reformists to join the coming elections.
