Voters judge Rouhani’s first term at the ballot box
MANY IRANIANS ARE YET TO REAP ECONOMIC BENEFITS AFTER SANCTIONS WERE EASED
Iranians voted yesterday in the country’s first presidential election since its nuclear deal with world powers, as incumbent Hassan Rouhani faced a staunch challenge from a hardline opponent over his outreach to the West.
The election is largely viewed as a referendum on the 68-yearold cleric’s more “moderate” policies, which paved the way for the nuclear accord despite opposition from hardliners.
Economic issues also were on the minds of Iran’s over 56 million eligible voters as they headed to more than 63,000 polling places across the country. The average Iranian has yet to see the benefits of the deal, which saw Iran limit its contested nuclear programme in exchange for the lifting of some sanctions.
Long lines
In Tehran, whose liberal and affluent voters form the bedrock of support for Rouhani, lines at some precincts were much longer than those seen in his 2013 win. Analysts have suggested a high turnout will aid Rouhani in securing a second four-year term.
“I am happy I could vote for Rouhani,” said Zohreh Amini, a 21-year-old woman studying painting at Tehran Azad University. “He kept the shadow of war far from our country.”
After casting his ballot, Rouhani said whomever the voters elect as president should receive all of the nation’s support. Rouhani has history on his side in the election. No incumbent president has failed to win re-election since 1981, when Khamenei became president himself.
Strongest challenge
That doesn’t mean it will be easy, however. Rouhani faces three challengers, the strongest among them hardline cleric Ebrahim Raisi, 56.
Raisi, a law professor and former prosecutor who heads an influential religious charitable foundation with vast business holdings, is seen by many as close to Khamenei. Raisi has even been discussed as a possible successor to him, though Khamenei has stopped short of endorsing anyone.
Raisi won the support of two major clerical bodies and promised to boost welfare payments to the poor. His populist posture, anti-corruption rhetoric and get-tough reputation — bolstered by his alleged role condemning inmates to death during Iran’s 1988 mass execution of thousands of political prisoners — are likely to energise conservative rural and working-class voters.
“Rouhani has turned our foreign policies into a mess and damaged our religion,” said Sedigheh Davoodabadi, a 59-yearold housewife in Iran’s holy city of Qom who voted for Raisi. “Rouhani gave everything to the US outright” in the nuclear deal.
Mustafa Hashemitaba, a proreform figure who previously ran for president in 2001, and Mostafa Mirsalim, a former culture minister, also remain in the race.
Iranians overseas also voted in over 300 locations, including 55 in the US, where more than one million Iranians live.
The race has heated emotions and pushed public discourse in Iran into areas typically untouched in the tightly controlled state media. That includes Rouhani openly criticising hardliners and Iran’s powerful Revolutionary Guard, a paramilitary force now involved in the war in Syria and the fight against Daesh militants in neighbouring Iraq.
But authorities worry about tempers rising too high, especially after the 2009 disputed re-election of former hardline President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad that saw unrest, mass arrests and killings. Authorities barred Ahmadinejad from running in Friday’s election, and Khamenei days ago warned anyone fomenting unrest “will definitely be slapped in the face.”
That hasn’t stopped those at Rouhani rallies from shouting for the house-arrested leaders of the 2009’s Green Movement. Opposition websites have said Green Movement leaders Mir Hossein Mousavi and Mahdi Karroubi both have endorsed Rouhani against Raisi. Rouhani promised in his 2013 campaign to free the men, but that pledge so far remains unfulfilled.
[Hassan] Rouhani has turned our foreign policies into a mess, damaged our religion and gave everything to the United States outright in the nuclear deal.” S. Davoodabadi | Housewife