Iran I run off today (Friday). Presidential elections There will be a contest between the reformist presidential candidate Masoud Al-Badzikian and the conservative Saeed Jalili.
Only 40 percent of votes were cast in the first phase of the June 28 election, the lowest voter turnout in any presidential election in Iran since the 1979 Islamic Revolution.
Masoud Al-Mabikian and Saeed Jalili finished first and second respectively in terms of votes, but neither failed to get the required number of votes to become president, so the two candidates will face off once more today.
About 61 million Iranians are eligible to vote in the election, which will go to the polls once more today following the death of President Ibrahim Raisi in a helicopter crash.
The election comes at a time of heightened regional tensions over the ongoing Israeli offensive in Gaza, conflict with the West over Iran’s nuclear program and public discontent over Iran’s sanctions-hit economy.
In the first round of the elections on June 28, the unpopular Masoud Al-Badzikian came out on top with 42 percent of the vote.
The extraordinary performance by the al-Mabdishian has revived hope for Iran’s reformist public sector following years of conservative dominance.
In the run-off election, he faces Saeed Jalili, who won 38 percent of the vote in the first round and has the support of other conservative and ultra-conservative candidates.
Parliament Speaker Mohammad Baqir Ghalibaf, who came third in the first round with 13.8 percent, urged his supporters to back Saeed Jalili in the runoff as two conservative candidates had already dropped out. are
On the other hand, former president Mohammad Khatami has announced his support for the reformist Masoud al-Mabazikian, urging voters to participate in the elections in large numbers to ‘prevent the situation from worsening’ in Iran.
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The two rivals faced off in a two-hour televised debate on Monday, where they offered their respective perspectives on Iran’s economic woes, international relations, low voter turnout and internet restrictions.
During the debate, Massoud Al-Mabikian blamed the governments for their failure to include women as well as religious and ethnic minorities in politics and said that ‘the people are unhappy with us.’
On the other hand, Saeed Jalili expressed disappointment over the low voter turnout.
During the debate, Massoud Pazishkian reiterated calls for easing internet restrictions, which have limited access to social media platforms in Iran over the years.
On the other hand, Saeed Jalili strongly opposed the nuclear deal with the US and other world powers.
Saeed Jalili, Iran’s former nuclear negotiator, maintained an anti-Western stance, saying Tehran does not need the 2015 nuclear deal to make progress.
He said: ‘Today we should not postpone our affairs (waiting for the restart of the nuclear deal).’
Calling for constructive relations with the United States and European countries, the doctors criticized Saeed Jalili, saying that he is not offering any alternative to the nuclear deal.
About the economy, Saeed Jalili said that his government can achieve the target of 8% GDP.
An Iranian woman casts her vote at a polling station for the presidential election in Tehran on June 28, 2024 (Rahib Homavandi/AFP)
However, Masoud Al-Mabikian scoffed at the claim, saying that if his rivals failed to do all this, they should be ‘hanged’.
Javad Abdul Karimi, 42, a cook in central Tehran, said he hoped the new government would act to stem rising inflation and the Iranian rial’s decline once morest the US dollar.
Fatima, 75, said: ‘I did not vote in the first round and will not vote in the second round.’
According to him: ‘Both candidates have come for their own survival instead of solving the problems of the people. They don’t care regarding the people.’
Opposition groups, particularly overseas Iranians, have questioned the credibility of the elections, arguing that reformists and conservatives are two sides of the same coin.
The 39-year-old project manager in the mining sector said he had no hope for either candidate.
He told AFP in Tehran: ‘Given that public participation in elections has been declining for several years, (authorities) need to understand that this is a problem. I think the era of both conservatives and reformers is over.’
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2024-07-05 11:40:18