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Iran votes in presidential elections dominated by conservatives and under the shadow of the covid

2021-06-22T11:13:22.788Z


The failure of the outcome to change the country's political course discourages many of the 59 million potential voters


Masks, gloves, disinfectant and ballots await the 59 million Iranians with the right to vote in the presidential elections this Friday.

The electoral appointment, which is held under the shadow of the covid-19, is dominated by the conservatives: three of the four candidates belong to that current.

But whatever the outcome, neither Iran's foreign policy nor nuclear program will change, as both are the prerogative of the supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

The 67,000 polling stations have opened at seven in the morning (four thirty in the morning, Spanish peninsular time). This year their number has been increased by 7% and the voting time has been extended until midnight (with the possibility of extending it by two more hours) to avoid crowds and respect health regulations due to the pandemic. The schedule has demanded the cancellation of the curfew, between ten at night and four in the morning, which was in force in Tehran and other cities marked in red by the level of incidence of the coronavirus.

The main contenders are Ebrahim Raisí, the ultra-conservative head of the Judiciary, and in a very distant second place, Abdolnaser Hemmatí, a moderate who until his approval as a candidate was the governor of the Central Bank. Despite the support received at the last minute from some reformist leaders, Hemmatí's only chance of success is that Raisí does not get 50% of the votes. Then, they would go to a second round that could mobilize the most skeptical to stop who is perceived as a favorite of the regime.

Along with the thirteenth presidential elections, municipal elections are also held. The elections are a large logistical operation in Iran, a country of 1,648,000 square kilometers. 1.5 million people are mobilized among electoral and security personnel. But the choreography is highly rehearsed after four decades of successive calls. The day will begin with the vote of the supreme leader, in a mosque attached to his residence in Yamarán, north of the Iranian capital. Then, the candidates will vote, in a staggered manner so that they can be captured by television cameras.

Less certain is the vote of the Iranians, disappointed by the lack of ideological diversity among the candidates;

discouraged by the economic crisis.

To the historical mismanagement of its leaders and the sanctions reimposed by the United States as a result of its unilateral abandonment of the nuclear agreement in 2018, the pandemic has been added in the last year.

“We have understood that the problem is not the government but the regime.

Changing the president or the members of Parliament does not solve the corruption that corrodes the entire system ”, confides a health professional who dreams of emigrating.

The “religious democracy”, as the leaders describe the peculiar Iranian system, has a double institutional framework in which the elected positions are limited in their responsibilities by other designated ones. The powers of the president are more those of a prime minister in a presidential system, whose highest political and spiritual authority is the supreme leader.

So why the interest of the regime in which Raisí is elected? Given that Ayatollah Khameneí has ​​turned 82 years old, it is within the foreseeable that he will touch his relief during the eight years that the next president may be in office. In that case, he would be part of the shortlist that constitutes the Leadership Council (together with the head of the Judiciary and a clergyman), in charge of the transition until the election of a substitute. Some analysts see Raisí as a possible successor to Khameneí, who was also president before being appointed supreme leader, but given the wear and tear that the government entails, he can turn into a poisoned candy.

Despite the apathy with which the electoral campaign has been lived, especially in Tehran and in the large urban centers, where 75% of the 85 million Iranians live, it is difficult to estimate the level of attendance at the polls. There is no electoral roll that assigns electoral college based on place of residence. Iranians can vote wherever they are in the country. This year, in addition, due to the covid, the voters' finger will not be impregnated with ink and the control of the identity card will be done electronically.

Some analysts had suggested that the shortlist of mostly conservative candidates and the screening of all reformists indicated that the regime no longer cares about the level of participation. However, both Ayatollah Khamenei and outgoing President Hasan Rohaní have made the usual calls to vote.

Source: elparis

All news articles on 2021-06-22

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