A pro-reform Iranian newspaper on Thursday criticized the reformist-majority parliament's decision to lower the voting age to 15 ahead of next year's presidential elections.
"Our 15-year-olds have not had a chance to go through the process of political maturity," the English-language daily said in an editorial unusually critical of the reformist legislature.
"Lowering the voting age is not the right way of getting more people involved in the political process," it said. "In casting their votes, their guide will naturally be their emotions."
Reformist President Mohammed Khatami, who swept to office in 1997 with enormous support from young people, is seeking a second four-year term in next May's polls, the maximum allowed under the Iranian constitution.
The decision taken by parliament Wednesday lowers the voting age by a year and restores the right to vote to 15-year-olds which they had previously had between 1979 and 1997.
Iran News, the only major paper to comment on the question Thursday, added: "Fifteen-year-olds cannot be expected to fully understand this country's politics when even some 60-year-olds confess to being totally in the dark."
It also offered rare praise for the controversial and still-undecided US vote for the White House.
"The current American presidential elections, one of the most competitive in US history, provide a good example of how valuable each vote is and how effective the right platform, campaign and advertising can be," it said – TEHRAN (AFP)
© 2000 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
