Partial results on Saturday show that hard-liners allied with President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad have taken the lead in Iran's parliamentary elections. Critics say many reformists seeking political and social change -- were banned from running. But the government insists the election was fair.
State television reports that out of the 144 seats already decided, pro-Ahmadinejad hard-liners have won 53 seats. Meanwhile, a slate of moderate conservatives seized 38 seats. The reformist camp won 18 of the already decided seats. And the other 35 seats went to independents.
Based on partial results, Conservatives are expected to retain control of the 290-seat assembly.
Ahead of Friday's voting, 1,700 candidates were disqualified on grounds of insufficient loyalty to Islam, or Iran's 1979 revolution.
As a result, reformist candidates were running in only about half of the races nationwide. And many of them were little known to the public.
An Iranian government spokesman says Friday's election was fair...
Gholam Hossein Elham, Iranian Government Spokesman said "This election process has a legal framework -- whether it's the election process, the monitoring process or after the vote has finally been cast. There are specific organizations that thoroughly monitor this process. Especially the final results and the confirmation of the candidates which is the responsibility of electoral commissioners."
Conservatives who have grown disillusioned with Ahmadinejad appeared to be gaining ground.
Ahmadinejad's conservative critics say he has fumbled efforts to fix the economy -- hard hit by high inflation, unemployment and fuel shortages.
Final results are expected in a few days.
