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Ahmadinejad splits Iran's conservatives
By Farideh Farhi
27 February 2009
Iran's conservative parliamentary majority is divided over President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's policies and personality. As elections loom in June 2009, Farideh Farhi examines each side's arguments for and against the president.
On 1 February 2009, the conservative wing of Iran's 290-member parliament (known as the Fraktion-e Usulgarayan in Persian) witnessed the establishment of a smaller group identified as the Islamic Revolution Caucus with the stated objective of supporting the re-election of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad as president. This 40-member group, out of the more than 200-member conservative wing in the parliament, constitutes the fourth sub-group among the conservatives since the last parliamentary election in March 2008.
Divisions are not unusual in Iran's highly contentious political environment. In the past session of the parliament, several groups expressed dissatisfaction at the conservative leadership's actions. But the Islamic Revolution Caucus is not a split; it is simply a new parliamentary sub-group that aimed to re-elect a sitting president.
This is unusual in that it reflects a concern about the possible challenge Ahmadinejad may face among conservatives. The relatively small number of conservative members joining the group also represents the unease many other conservatives have about Ahmadinejad's re-election..