An electoral candidate in Iran has been denied a place on city council despite winning enough votes because she is deemed to be “too attractive”.
The Independent reports that Nina Siahkali Moradi, 27, received 10,000 votes, placing her 14th out of 163 candidates for the city of Qazvin elections.
The council only elects the first 13 across the line but the person placed 14th is listed as “the first reserve.”
However, when the elected mayor gave up his seat, Ms. Moradi was disqualified.
“We don’t want a catwalk model on the council,” a senior Qazvin official was quoted as saying in the Times.
Ms. Moradi is a graduate student of architecture.
The International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran said that the disqualification was apparently because of her “non-observance of Islamic codes”, and that her campaign posters were the basis for complaints from senior conservative rivals.
“Almost 10,000 people voted for me and based on that I should be the first alternate member of the City Council,” Ms. Moradi told local media.
A challenge may be considered because it is illegal to disqualify someone who had initially been qualified to run for office, as Ms. Moradi had been.
It could be a test for Iran’s new President Hassan Rowhani, who has vowed to stand up for women.
“Women work but don’t enjoy equal rights. I will form a women’s affairs ministry to return their trampled rights to them,” he said prior to his election.
The original article appeared on NEWS.COM.AU