Conservatives claimed victory in local elections held throughout Iran last week. Hardliners are rejoicing over the results -- not only did they win the ballots, but the turnout also suggests that reformers have lost heart. Warnings of a backlash are not without foundation, but the hardliners' control of the power ministries means that any attempt to protest the conservative stranglehold on power could turn violent and would play into their hands.
Last month's ballot was the second round of municipal elections held since the 1979 Islamic revolution. Official reports estimate that 218,000 candidates, including 5,000 women, contested 112,000 seats in 905 city councils and 34,205 town and village councils. Conservatives swept seats in all major cities, claiming all 15 positions on the Tehran City Council, which was dissolved late last year after political squabbling among its members. The results surprised the country's reformers.
Since President Mohammad Khatami first took office in 1997, reformers have racked up an impressive string of victories. They took control of most city councils in the first round of local elections held in 1999, then claimed a majority in Parliament in 2000. Mr. Khatami won a second resounding presidential victory in 2001. But those poll successes did not enable the reformers to implement the policy changes their supporters had anticipated.