Thread: Campaign ends in Iran's presidential race

Iranians vote for president, reject U.S. barbs
Fri Jun 17, 2005 7:32 AM ET

By Alistair Lyon
TEHRAN (Reuters) - Iranians voted for a president on Friday and their leaders rebuffed U.S. criticism of the poll which pragmatic cleric Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani is the narrow favorite to win.

Queues formed at some polling stations in Tehran soon after they opened in hot sunshine for Iran's 47 million, mostly young, voters. Official results are due on Saturday.

Many Iranians say they will not endorse a system where real power is held by unelected clerics who barred all but a handful of more than 1,000 presidential hopefuls. Yet the poll has aroused more interest than expected among voters.

"Even if we think it is pre-cooked, we should vote. I'll vote for Moin," said Siavosh Kayyal, 22, a computer engineer, referring to leading reformist candidate Mostafa Moin.

Keeping up a barrage of U.S. criticism, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said democracy in Iran was "moving backwards" and Washington would watch to see if Tehran adopted a course "more in step with what is going on in the region."

President Bush, who labeled Iran part of an axis of evil in 2002, attacked its "oppressive record." Iran denies U.S. claims it seeks nuclear weapons and backs terrorism.

DAMNED IN ADVANCE

Bush's pre-emptive attack on the election drew derisive responses from many Iranian leaders, including reformists vowing to strengthen democratic institutions and entrench human rights.

"It might not be an ideal election for us, but the basics are there," Moin told Reuters at his campaign headquarters.

Intelligence Minister Ali Yunesi said Bush's remarks were disrespectful to Iran and the rival candidates. "No politician calls an election undemocratic before it is even held," he said.

Unelected Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei told Iranians they were not just choosing a president. "Whoever you vote for among those seven candidates, it's a vote for him, the Islamic republic and the constitution," he said.

There were no reports of Election Day violence, Interior Ministry officials said. Bombings in Tehran and elsewhere killed nine people and wounded more than 70 in the run-up to the poll.

Aides to Moin have complained that hard-liners beat up his supporters at some campaign meetings.

Rafsanjani, who wants better ties with the West, has topped most opinion polls, often unreliable in the past, before what could be Iran's closest vote since the 1979 Islamic revolution.

"I have promised people to continue reforms and I am sure I can deliver my promises," the 70-year-old said after voting.

The wily cleric, who served as president from 1989 to 1997, needs to win over half the votes cast to avoid an unprecedented run-off, probably next Friday, between the top two vote-getters.

His nearest rivals are Moin, 54, and conservative ex-police chief Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf, 43, with Tehran's ex-mayor Mahmoud Ahmadinejad emerging as a dark-horse conservative contender.

"Rafsanjani was president for eight years and he did nothing. I don't think Moin has the power to implement his policies," said Mostafa Mostafayi, 23, an aircraft engineer.

He favored Ahmadinejad as a man who could stand up to the authorities. BREAKING TABOOS

Clerical leaders have urged a high turnout to bolster the Islamic state's legitimacy.

Social restrictions have been eased and taboos broken in a campaign that has featured calls for dialogue with Washington and campaign advertisements containing discussions of sex and religion.

Outgoing reformist President Mohammad Khatami said change would take time, but urged all Iranians who believed the path to democracy was long and gradual to vote.

Ayatollah Khamenei, symbol of a clerical establishment that foiled many of Khatami's reforms, said critics of Iran's hybrid of theocracy and democracy were trying to discourage voters.

"Fortunately among Europeans and also Americans are some independents who admit that at least in this region, there is no democracy as strong as in Iran," Khamenei declared.

Rafsanjani said that if the United States proved it wanted to end past enmity, Iran would respond. "If America is willing to improve ties with Iran, it has to show goodwill," he said.

The United States, which broke ties with Iran in 1980, last month dropped its opposition to an Iranian bid to join the World Trade Organization but still has a catalog of demands.

(Additional reporting by Hossein Jasseb and Parisa Hafezi)

http://today.reuters.com/news/newsAr...LECTION-DC.XML

Hard-Liner Wins Decisively in Iran Presidential Election

June 25, 2005
The Los Angeles Times
John Daniszewski

Ahmadinejad's victory signals the return of an Islamic fundamentalist government and is likely to alter the dynamic in nuclear negotiations.

The mayor of Tehran won Iran's presidency in a landslide Friday, using support from the clerical hierarchy and the country's vast military to restore total control of the government to Islamic fundamentalists and end an eight-year experiment in reform.

Partial returns released by the official news agency early today gave Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, a political newcomer, more than 61% of the vote in his runoff contest with former President Hashemi Rafsanjani. Officials said the turnout was about 48% of the 47 million eligible voters, well short of the 63% reported in the first round of balloting a week ago.

Voters divided by class and ideology went to the polls in a battle for Iran's future, with many of the poor favoring the fundamentalist mayor, who vowed to end corruption and bring back revolutionary fervor. More affluent and liberal Iranians had regarded Rafsanjani, a centrist, as the last hope for reform.

With 18.4 million votes counted, Ahmadinejad had garnered 61.5%, an official with the Guardian Council said, according to the Islamic Republic News Agency. The Guardian Council, a conservative body of clerics and lawyers, supervises elections.

After being roundly rebuffed by voters in the last two presidential elections, conservatives regained control by painting the reformist camp, represented by outgoing President Mohammad Khatami, as corrupt, ineffectual and out of touch with ordinary people.

They were also helped by a trend among many opponents of the Islamic Republic's religious elite to reject reform as impossible in a country where the constitution gives the unelected supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, control of the main levers of power, including the judiciary and armed forces.

The hard-line victory would appear to rule out any early improvement in relations between Iran and the West and could increase the chance of confrontation with the United States over Iran's nuclear development program, which Ahmadinejad has praised.

Unlike Rafsanjani, the mayor had said that better ties with the United States would not be a priority. He also has voiced disdain for Western-style democracy.

"We did not have a revolution in order to have democracy," he said last week.

Supporters of Ahmadinejad will go to mosques and "thank God for this great victory," campaign manager Ali Akbar Javanfekr told Associated Press.

In Washington, State Department spokeswoman Joanne Moore reiterated criticism that U.S. officials had leveled at Iran before the first round of voting.

"With the conclusion of the elections in Iran, we have seen nothing that dissuades us from our view that Iran is out of step with the rest of the region and the currents of freedom and liberty that have been so apparent in Iraq, Afghanistan and Lebanon," she said. "These elections were flawed from the inception by the decision of an unelected few to deny the applications of over 1,000 candidates, including all 93 women."

Before the polls closed, there were complaints of irregularities at some Tehran voting places as conservatives and reformers clashed over the alleged presence of Islamic militiamen.

The reformist-controlled Interior Ministry asked for the closure of at least six stations to clear out the irregulars, who have backed Ahmadinejad, but the request was turned down by the Guardian Council, news agencies said.

Officials repeatedly extended the period for voting before finally ordering stations closed at 11 p.m., four hours after the scheduled closing time.

The two candidates provided a study in contrasts within the Islamic system.

Rafsanjani, at 70, was the old, familiar face — too familiar for many. The wheeler-dealer millionaire cleric had been part of the country's ruling clique since the 1979 Islamic Revolution. President from 1989 to 1997, he has since been head of the Expediency Council, which resolves conflicts inside the government.

Long known for political wiles and pragmatism, he styled himself a reformer and had said that only he could save the limited freedoms allowed during Khatami's tenure.

Election banners along Vali Asr, Tehran's main street, said Rafsanjani would take Iran into the future, not back to the past. Opponents, however, accused him of lavish living and putting relatives into lucrative posts.

Ahmadinejad, 48, has never held an elected office and has been the appointed mayor of Tehran for just two years. A former Revolutionary Guard and instructor for the pro-government Basiji militia, he talks tough toward Iran's enemies and promises to reverse what he views as the watering down of the militant politics of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, the Islamic Republic's founder. He has a strong following in the military and among working-class Iranians and the clergy.

His foes fear he will take the country backward to the terror-filled days just after the revolution and increase the segregation of the sexes in public as well as bring on isolation, economic decline and a heightened risk of confrontation with the West over human rights and nuclear weapons. Ahmadinejad calls such accusations politically motivated lies.

Voting early in the morning, Rafsanjani said he would marshal a political front "to stop the domination of extremism."

Ahmadinejad, as he cast his ballot, pledged to bring about "a new political era."

"What will come out of the ballot boxes are the sprouts of hope, pride and dignity of the great people of Iran," he said. He also called the current status of liberties inside Iran "outstanding" and said that the country's pursuit of nuclear power should continue.

"You can't prevent the growth of a nation," he said.

Many Iranians, disgruntled with the country's "religious democracy," were unhappy with both candidates.

"We don't believe in any of them," said Kourouch, a 20-year-old in south Tehran near the old Jewish quarter. A fan of rap singer Eminem who worked in a carpet shop but dreams of success as a pop lyricist, he said he would not bother walking 20 feet to the voting station next door because he considered neither politician worthy of support. He asked that his last name not be published.

Ali Tajvar, 23, who had delivered a friend to the packed polling station in the Fereshteh Street mosque in an affluent area of north Tehran, lounged outside rather than voting himself. He said neither candidate spoke to his generation.

"We need what the older generation had — freedom, culture," he said. "We do not need the government to interfere with our way of life."

Effat Barghi, 45, a housewife who didn't vote in the first round, went to the polling station with her husband and two children Friday. She said she was alarmed at the prospect of hard-liners aligned with Ahmadinejad gaining any more control.

"What is important for us is freedom for the youth," she said. "We don't want to be put under pressure about Islamic covering again. I want to see my daughter have more freedom."

But although the neighborhoods of north Tehran lined up almost uniformly in support of Rafsanjani, vast, poor swaths of the capital's southern parts favored Ahmadinejad.

In Shoush, a neighborhood where many people are unemployed and where those who do work full time might earn only about $120 a month, employees of a fruit shop said they had voted for the Tehran mayor, who had pledged to provide loans so young people can get married, cap housing costs and improve pensions and health benefits.

"He's good, because he is a fundamentalist. He's pious," said Hady Akbari, 17, piling melons inside the shop.

"He is very concerned about Islamic dressing," said Fatama Qaffari, 27, who went to the polls with her mother-in-law, both dressed in traditional black chadors. Such dress was de rigueur in the early days of the revolution but has since been replaced by colorful scarves and close-fitting tunics in the more affluent north.

Unlike Rafsanjani, Qaffari said, the Tehran mayor will "listen to the voice of the people. As far as I know, he leads a simple life like us, the common people."

The first round of voting included seven candidates, but none of the main reformists survived to the runoff.

Rafsanjani, who was distrusted by many in the reform camp, led the field and became the only alternative for Iranians who preferred a more open society and less confrontation with the West. But contrary to expectations that he would secure a first-round victory, he netted just 21% of the vote.

The surprise of the first round was Ahmadinejad's showing. He came in hard on Rafsanjani's heels with 19.5%.

In the week between the first round and the runoff, his campaign clearly picked up momentum as more Iranians got to know him through newspaper articles and TV interviews.

He was presented as a shining knight of Islam, ready to help the downtrodden, whom he said had been forgotten by the elites — a clear poke at Rafsanjani and the reformist generation of young people who are avid fans of the Internet, wear makeup and are indifferent, if not hostile, to the Iranian theocracy.

http://www.iranvajahan.net/cgi-bin/n...&m=06&d=25&a=4

It's not difficult for a "hard-liner" to win, when only "hard-liners" are allowed to run...

It's not difficult for a "hard-liner" to win, when only "hard-liners" are allowed to run...

Well the "hardliner" did beat the "reformers"...

Originally Posted by troung

Well the "hardliner" did beat the "reformers"...

The "reformers" were "hard-liners" too...

I steadfastly refuse to read anything about this farce of an election. The media covers it as if whoever is elected will have more power then the local city dog catcher.

Has to be something in the air, liberals/reformers are lossing ground every where and conservatives/hardliners/right-wingers is winning everywhere.

I think world wide consevative revolution started with Bush winning relection. Blair was an exceptrion but he did badly. Right wing govts. have been elected in most of the place.

Iran election was given, conservatives/hard-liners were hugely popular in Iran just as conservative/hard-liners are popular in US.

Originally Posted by rotorooter

Has to be something in the air, liberals/reformers are lossing ground every where and conservatives/hardliners/right-wingers is winning everywhere.

Well that's just wrong. Look at LA, Spain, Canada.

I think world wide consevative revolution started with Bush winning relection.

I see no basis for this belief.

Blair was an exceptrion but he did badly. Right wing govts. have been elected in most of the place.

Not really.

Iran election was given, conservatives/hard-liners were hugely popular in Iran

No they're not. Most reformers stayed home rather then vote for the Mulocracy’s version of a "reformer."

just as conservative/hard-liners are popular in US.

The whole idea that Reformers in Iran = the Dems in the US, and the Republicans are just like Iran's hardliners is absurd. The reformers in Iran want democracy and representative Government. The hard liners want a theocracy. The Republican Party supported a war in part to bring democracy to Iraq.

Looks like the Clerics won't have to use their veto power this administration.

Originally Posted by BenRoethig

Looks like the Clerics won't have to use their veto power this administration.

Would be kind of foolish if they ever had to use it. After all, they get to decide who runs.

Originally Posted by Leader

Would be kind of foolish if they ever had to use it. After all, they get to decide who runs.

Kinda like a preemptive veto...

Originally Posted by Leader

The whole idea that Reformers in Iran = the Dems in the US, and the Republicans are just like Iran's hardliners is absurd. The reformers in Iran want democracy and representative Government. The hard liners want a theocracy.

If you went trhough the manifesto you would be surprised how similar Iranian hardliners/conservatives are with the Consevative Republicans.

Afterall both have a conservative agenda and both derive their support from conservative and relgious elements of the society.

The Republican Party supported a war in part to bring democracy to Iraq.

You gotta to be kidding, Republicans are supporting so many dictators round the world including musharraf who is denying democratic rights to 150 million pakistanis, Karimov, who is denying denying democrative rights to 30 million Uzbecks and recently committed genocide.

So this nonsense about democracy in Iraq does not wash.

Originally Posted by rotorooter

If you went trhough the manifesto you would be surprised how similar Iranian hardliners/conservatives are with the Consevative Republicans.

Afterall both have a conservative agenda and both derive their support from conservative and relgious elements of the society.

You're missing the economic side of this discussion, which is what the majority of western politics is about.

You gotta to be kidding,

Of course, you're so obviously right. Why would anyone bother to argue with you? Is this how life has worked for you up to this point? You announce your argument and everyone nods their heads.

Republicans are supporting so many dictators round the world including musharraf who is denying democratic rights to 150 million pakistanis, Karimov, who is denying denying democrative rights to 30 million Uzbecks and recently committed genocide.

I'm a "Conservative Republican" and I'm not. Also, pointing out that the US supports dictators doesn't prove that one US motive for invading Iraq wasn't to free the Iraqi people.

So this nonsense about democracy in Iraq does not wash.

Well, not for you. The Iraqis would probably see it differently.