Iranian Parliament review election laws

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TEHRAN, Dec. 10 (UPI) -- Election laws in Iran need to be reformed but that doesn't mean it's the Parliament that is choosing the next president, a lawmaker said.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad last week expressed reservations about planned revisions to election laws. He said changes may give Parliament too much power in the election process.

Moayyed Hosseini Sadr, a member of the Iranian Parliament, told state-funded broadcaster Press TV that changes were needed to help the Interior Ministry with elections.

"By the new amendments to election law, we do not mean to task the Parliament with holding the elections," he said. "In fact, it is the executive board, comprising the interior minister, the board of trustees, and civil servants, which supervises the electoral process."

Ahmadinejad is ineligible to seek re-election because of term limits. He fell out of favor with the clerical elite this year and has been subjected to criticism over economic policies.

Elections are scheduled June 13. Candidates must be approved by a 12-member Guardian Council.

Frustration over the results from the 2009 contest resulted in demonstrations in Iran not seen since the Islamic Revolution of 1979.