Iran parliament crisis threatens elections

Iran's government has warned it may refuse to organise parliamentary elections amid a dispute over thousands of candidates who have been prevented from standing.

Chief government spokesman and cabinet secretary Abd Allah Ramazanzadeh told news agency ISNA that the government could not "organise an election which is uncompetitive, unhealthy and not free".

He said "in all constituencies there should be real competition, and not a staged one, of all the people who are willing to compete legally and within the framework of the constitution".

Ramazanzadeh said this is "the only condition of the government", but added before the 20 February polls "one of the conditions for a fair competition is the time for campaigning".

http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/00B22575-3D57-4099-8942-02FB52B12A10.htm