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TEHRAN-Iranian students, who spearheaded a reform movement blunted by President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's election in 2005, doubt that voting for a new parliament on Friday can promote real change. Yasaman Nili, 23, who backed moderate former president Mohammad Khatami in previous elections, says she will vote from a sense of civic duty, not because she finds any of the contenders for the 290-seat parliament inspiring."I don't have a favorite candidate whom I know would change things for the better," the social science student told Reuters at her apartment in wealthy north Tehran."At the same time, things won't improve if everyone draws back from voting. If you decide to be indifferent, you have no right to object to problems," said Nili, who studies at Tehran's Alameh Tabatabai university.The March 14 election will show whether Ahmadinejad's popularity has waned since he won power on promises of sharing Iran's oil wealth more fairly.Ahmadinejad, criticized for his handling of an economy awash with petrodollars but struggling with double-digit inflation, has been accused of introducing tighter social restrictions and a crackdown on reformist students.In the late 1990s, students formed a bastion of support for the social and political reforms promoted by Khatami but many students became disillusioned as reforms failed to materialize.Moderates trying to make a comeback in next Friday's election complain that the odds are stacked against them because a hardline vetting body has barred some of their candidates.To read more go to:
As in the days of Noah....
