Bidding for young voters, candidates speak of reform

Fersehteh Street, which runs though a leafy neighborhood in northern Tehran, was crowded on Wednesday with young people plastering their car...

Written by MICHAEL SLACKMAN

Tehran | June 17, 2005 12:00 AM IST

2 min read

Fersehteh Street, which runs though a leafy neighborhood in northern Tehran, was crowded on Wednesday with young people plastering their cars with stickers promoting Ali Akhbar Hashemi Rafsanjani for President of Iran.

‘‘Candidates are not chanting ideological slogans anymore,’’ Sahar Namazikhah, wrote recently in the daily newspaper Shargh. “It seems they have no choice but to adapt themselves to the electorate who seems to have a new taste,’’ he said.

The day was hot, and the sun was high over streets of the capital city that were choked with traffic as Mahbod Naderi (22), and five of his friends stood in a storefront in the center of the city discussing politics. ‘‘Open-minded people didn’t want to vote,” he said. “Now if they vote, they at least show who they want to win.” The campaign has been defined by candidates who tried to present themselves as agents of change. Chief among them was Rafsanjani, who was president from 1989 to 1997. “Respect for private space,” one of Rafsanjani’s campaign themes, is clearly aimed at the young, who have bristled under the social restrictions imposed by the conservative rulers.

Polls showed former police chief Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf as running second. Qalibaf’s campaign created a buzz because the former hardliner posed for a campaign poster that looked more like an advertisement for a movie star than for a hardliner. “The candidates we vote for should be aggressive with reforms, all reforms, political, economic and cultural,” said Mehdi Bahrami (21), who said he planned to vote for Moin.

Leading the conservative camp is Ali Larijani, whose slogan was “fresh air”, which he drew from a well-known poem written by a secular poet, and he talked about helping Iranians develop a new identity.

—NYT

Candidates for the election

		AKBAR HASHEMI RAFSANJANI (70): A mid-ranking cleric who held most of the top positions in Iran’s political structure and is widely considered to be Iran’s second most powerful figure after supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Rafsanjani is a moderate conservative who favours closer ties with the West and liberalisation of the state-heavy economy. MOHAMMAD BAQER QALIBAF (43): A former Revolutionary Guards commander who was appointed National Police Chief in 2000 and presents himself as a traditional, but independent, conservative candidate. Opinion polls put him second behind Rafsanjani. MOSTAFA MOIN (54): Served as Minister of Higher Education under President Khatami where he was a staunch defender of students’ rights until his resignation in 2003. A committed reformer, he has pledged to appoint a Vice-President to tackle human rights abuses, resume talks with Washington and review the powers of unelected clerical leaders. MEHDI KARROUBI (68): Parliament speaker from 2000 to 2004, this mid-ranking cleric is a close ally of Khatami. A moderate reformist, he has promised to give all Iranians, above 18 years of age, a monthly $56 government stipend. Ali LARIJANI (48): Head of Iran’s state broadcasting monopoly for 10 years until he stepped down last year and became a security adviser to Khamenei. Larijani was selected as the official candidate of the main coalition of traditional conservative parties but has little popular support. MAHMOUD AHMADINEJAD (49): Elected mayor of the sprawling Iranian capital after a vote marred by record low turnout in 2003, he is a leading member of a new generation of lay politicians fiercely loyal to Khamenei. He appeals to the religious poor. MOHSEN MEHRZALIZADEH (50): Vice President for Sports since 2000, he was Governor of Khorasan from 1996 to 2000. Least known of the reformists in the race, he has made almost no impression. These are the seven candidates who are competing to replace outgoing reformist Mohammad Khatami in Iran’s Presidential election today. —Reuters

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