Iran, gripped by turmoil, starts vote

Press, 3 December 1979, Page 8

Iran, gripped by turmoil, starts vote

NZPA-Reuter Teheran i Iranians have begun voting on a new constitution which will give legality to the sweeping powers enjoyed by Ayatollah Ruholiah Khomeiny and other leading clergymen.

The two-day referendum began as Muslim students occupying the U.S. Embassy in Teheran ended their fourth week in occupation holding 50 American hostages. whom they accuse of spying for the American Central Intelligence Agency. The State radio and television urged voters to say “yes” to the new' con-i stitution. They broadcast' hours of interviews with religious leaders and politicians calling for approval of the constitution. Iran has been galvanised into revolutionary fervour by the embassy occupation, w’hich sparked a national outpouring of anti-American sentiment orchestrated by the country’s religious rulers. The outcome of the poll is a foregone conclusion and attention is likely to focus on the level of turn-out since all the constitution’s opponents have urged ab’stention and none has dared ■to call for a “no” vote. 1 Ethnic minorities in western, northern, and southeastern Iran seem likely to boycott the referendum in large numbers, following the advice of their autonomyseeking leaders. In one towm in Baluchistan, near the Pakistani bor-(

der, there will be no voting at all. Anti-constitution militants ■ seized the town governor on Saturday and held him hostage until he agreed to call off the poll. The 300 militants captured!) the governor’s office in Iranshahr and won a series of I demands including the right to broadcast a message [throughout the province ur-l ging abstention in the referendum. To make completely sure ; of stopping the vote, they; burned some of the town’s) ballot boxes and most of the : voting slips. The authorities have print-! ed the “yes” slips in green,!, the colour of Islam and the “no” slips in red, the symbol , for communism. ~ In fact the pro-Soviet ;• Tudeh (Communist) Party , has come out in favour of' the constitution. The Tudeh, banned under the Shah and violently opposed by the Muslim clergy, is now believed to have the best organisation in Iran and has made much of the em-i; bassy occupation. Its liter-! ature is openly sold outside ; the embassy compound. Many Iranian liberals and intellectuals are deeply wor- ' ried by the powers the constitution confers on Ayatollah Khomeiny.

These powers include the right to declare war and make peace, the right to ap- ! point judges, and the powe> [ to approve the president ■ after his election and dismiss him in the national | interest. Muslim militants in the , unruly northern province of ! Azarbaijan raked the head- | quarters of the Muslim People’s Republican Party with automatic weapons fire today after demonstrations [ against Iran’s new constitu-! tion, a party spokesman said, j The spokesman said that about 80 people had been arrested after all-night de- ! monstrations against the 1 constitution. The spokesman said the ‘ demonstrations were prompt- ' ed by a statement read on ( television which said a vote against the constitution was! tantamount to a vote for the! 1 devil. < The statement had been issued in the name of Mirza p Sadeq Shaariat-Madari, a fic-l! titious name chosen to mis-' 1 lead the population into 1 assuming that Ayatollah Ka-! 1 zem Shariat-Madari was supporting the constitution. A prominent religious'! leader and a top figure in! Azarbaijan, Ayatollah Sha-j 1 riat-Madari is spiritual leader, of the Muslim People’s Re-; 1 publican Party.