For Iranians, high stakes in historic presidential race

6/10/09
iran
By Emily Ngo

For Iranians, high stakes in historic presidential race

Photo credit: Urbanite

(AP)

By Emily Ngo

In one corner, a sea of green-clad students chants the reformist candidate’s name.

In another, crowds of conservatives unfurl national flags in support of the incumbent president.

Election fever has gripped Iran.

“This is the most contested and divisive election in the history of the Islamic Republic,” said Ahmad Sadri, who writes for Iranian.com and Persian newspaper Etemad-e Melli. "It is the most extreme instance of this sense of empowerment, even in an imperfect election."

Supporters of challenger Mir Hossein Mousavi and two other candidates cast their ballots tomorrow in an attempt to unseat hawkish President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, 52.

For the first time, Iranians feel able to redirect their government’s hard-line course on nuclear weapons, acrimonious relations with the U.S. and the West, and repression of gays, women and Jews — among other issues that have isolated Iran from the rest of the world.

Although the supreme leader, Grand Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and leading conservative clerics essentially run Iran, the president represents the nation on the world stage.

“People get into this idea that, ‘Yes, the elections do matter. It does make a difference who’s president,’” said Hooman Majd, author of “The Ayatollah Begs to Differ.” “It may even change the view of the supreme leader when he sees that the public is looking for change.”Iranian students who use Facebook to organize unusually raucous rallies see that change in Mousavi, 67, a reformist boosted by his activist wife and the backing of popular ex-President Mohammad Khatami. More than half of Iran’s population is younger than 30.

“This is a young generation who’s extremely smart — some of the best doctors and engineers in the world — and they’re not able to use their degrees and build their own lives,” said Shamila Dilmaghani, 26, a New Yorker keeping tabs through cousins in Iran. “The election comes at a time when Iran’s economy is suffering.”

Ahmadinejad’s mishandling of the economic crisis amid record oil prices has left Iran’s youth short of opportunities, experts said.

However, Ahmadinejad has secured much of the country’s working-class and social-conservative vote. Rural voters feel the president has redistributed oil wealth to them and improved class equality, experts said.

Recent election results in Lebanon, where a pro-Western coalition beat Hezbollah, could be a precursor, experts said.

“If the reformers win Iran, the two elections combined will have a calming effect in the region,” said Sadri, chair of Islamic World Studies at Lake Forest University. “Of course, the system is rigged. … But a bit of luck and a huge landslide can overwhelm the theocratic stopgaps.”

Pasha Pashazadeh in midtown New York (RJ Mickelson/amNY)

Some expats in New York were much more skeptical.

“This is a sneaky type of election decorated to look real on the surface,” said Pasha Pashazadeh, 67, formerly a reporter in Tehran and now a Persian rug merchant in midtown. “The candidates have the same differences you would find in prison guards. And one thing is the same among all of them: loyalty to the system, the supreme leader and religion.”

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On the ballot:

If one candidate does not earn more than 50 percent of the vote, the election will enter a second round. Here’s a look at those vying for president:

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, 52

* Iran’s current president, former mayor of Tehran

* Populist often called a demagogue for sharp tongue and hateful speech toward Israel

* Appeals to rural voters, the working class and social conservatives with promises to spread oil wealth

Mir Hossein Mousavi, 67

* Leading challenger, former prime minister

* Reformist, artist and professor with politically active wife, Zahra Rahnavard

* Appeals to youths and female voters and promotes women’s rights

Mahdi Karroubi, 72

* Mid-rank cleric and former parliament speaker

* Moderate who pledges to nationalize oil revenues

* Also promotes international dialogue and women’s rights

Mohsen Rezaei, 55

* Expediency Council secretary, economics professor and former Revolutionary Guard commander

* Conservative who vows larger private sector

* Wanted by Interpol for links to deadly 1994 bombing of Argentine Jewish center

* Banned from the U.S. and the European Union

(Emily Ngo)
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For Iranians, high stakes in historic presidential race

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