Elections in Iran pose questions over candidates, limited options
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad will be no more the president. The twice elected Iranian president much loved in some parts of the world for his simplicity and standing up to the US, much hated in parts of the West for his “hate of the West” and “towing the line of the Iranian clergy.” After serving two terms, Ahmadinejad cannot stand for election again, and the idea that the Iranian regime is putting forward is that the new election is a genuine chance for the Iranian people to elect its representatives. But there are many critics of the election process, in which only eight of the 600 applicants for the slot have been allowed to stand by the Iranian Guardian Council. Most of these have been rejected without any reasons assigned by the 12-member council of six clergymen and six jurists. Candidates are vetted for “a good personal record, political competence and loyalty to the fundamental principles of the Islamic republic and its religion”.
With elections due on June 14, there is little choice for voters – and the character of the candidates remains in question. The real question: how much independence would the new president be able to assert his independence from Ayatollah Ali Khamenei? All eight candidates are considered close to the regime. At least two of them, Mohsen Rezai and Ali Akbar Veleyati, are wanted for murder in connection to the infamous 1994 bombing of a Jewish community center in Argentina. One of the candidates, Saeed Jalili is the principle negotiator for Iran’s heavily sanctioned nuclear program. Other candidates are known human rights violators. Jalili, one of the front-runners is considered very close to Ayatollah Khamenei, and if elected might not be able to open up Iran to more democratic freedoms.
The voter turnout in 2009 around was 80 per cent. However, it is expected to be less this time around. The turnout itself remains one of the key reasons the Iranian regime is able to claim public support. And despite the regime’s assertions, resistance continues to erupt in Iran at various moments. The last election was followed by a popular uprising, the Green Movement. It was clamped down on with great force while two of the four presidential candidates were jailed. This time again the three-week election campaign appears to be monotonous. No reformist has been allowed to contest, with questions over the democratic character of the election very real. The only saving grace is that unlike the Saudi monarchy or Gulf sheikdoms with hereditary rulers, the Irani people are given an option to vote for the head of government. What is hoped is that the Iranian people will manage to make their voice heard and that the regime will resolve any disputes after the elections in a peaceful way. The implications are there for the entire South Asian region and the Middle East.