World News

Iranian Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is running for president – again Election news

Tehran, Iran – Former controversial President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has re-registered to become Iran’s next president, but the main candidates scheduled for the June elections have yet to register.

The ultraconservative, who served as president from 2005 to 2013, tried to run again in 2017 but was disqualified by the Guardian Council, a constitutional body made up of six clerics and six legal experts.

Observers say a divisive figure with followers among parts of the Iranian population will be disqualified again.

Supreme Leader Ali Hosseini Khamenei promised that he would not be affected by the June 18 election on Tuesday after replacing Hassan Rouhani, a fairly moderate president, after serving two terms.

Supporters of former Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad gather outside the interior ministry [Atta Kenare/AFP]

Ahmadinejad entered the interior ministry on Wednesday, the second day of registration of candidates, the crowd in his favor around him – breaking the COVID-19 protocols, allowing candidates to be in the registration area with only one person.

Shouting and shouting slogans, some of those around him clashed with interior ministry staff. After registering, Ahmadinejad climbed a fence outside to gesture at his ardent supporters.

At a press conference following the registration, the former president, who had a controversial election that sparked the 2009 Green Movement and protests, questioned the veracity and popularity of Iran’s elections in the years following his presidency. He said the presidential election had become “empty drums” and that the authorities did not disclose the transparent figure.

“If I am disqualified, I will not accept the election and I will not vote,” he said, claiming that the country’s serious problems cannot be solved with the current style of government.

Former President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad (C) retained his ID in the Interior Ministry and registered as a candidate in the June 18 elections. [Morteza Nikoubazl/NurPhoto via Getty Images]

More prominent conservatives were expected

According to the election headquarters, more than 59 million Iranians will have the right to vote. But, as was the case with the February 2020 parliamentary elections, which had the lowest turnout in at least 40 years, it is expected to have the lowest turnout in the presidential election as well.

Registration closes Saturday afternoon, and the top candidates for the upcoming election have yet to formally register.

According to reports, Chief Justice Ebrahim Raisi will be nominated, which would make him the leading candidate as he has very broad support from Conservative politicians. Parliamentary spokesman Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf told lawmakers he would not run and will support Raisi. The two men ran unsuccessfully against Rouhani in 2017.

On Wednesday, parliamentary vice-president Amir Hossein Ghazizadeh Hashemi registered to run for president.

Rostam Ghasemi, who was oil minister under Ahmadinejad, and Mohammad Abbasi, the sports and labor minister of two different presidents in Ahmadinejad, were also registered. Former President Sadegh Khalilian’s agriculture minister – who was disqualified in 2017 and 2013 – also signed up.

The election headquarters said 57 people tried to register on Tuesday, many of whom were conservative and tough.

Reformers are fighting

So far no famous reformers have been given and it is not clear whether the conflicting reformers can be a viable candidate.

Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, voted best by the reformists, said on Wednesday he would not run.

“Now that concerned friends are confident in my candidacy, I urge them to focus on their internal power and take care of national interests and let us rely on ours to remove people from the cruel US sanctions,” he wrote in an online message at Vienna’s 2015 nuclear deal with world powers. referring to the efforts being made to recover.

The Hardliners have won Zarif in the last two weeks the secret audio tape of an interview with him was leaked at the end of April. In the tape, he discusses the power dynamics of the Islamic republic, and warns how he repeatedly had to “sacrifice” diplomacy for operations and policies driven by General Revolutionary Islamic Corps and General Qassem Soleimani, who was assassinated by the United States in January. 2020.

Reports say former parliamentary speaker Ali Larijani may become a candidate who negotiated a full 25-year China-Iran cooperation agreement.

Prominent reformist Mostafa Tajzadeh has said he will run for office on Friday, but the recent unilateral proclamation by the Guardian Council could prevent him from being imprisoned after discussing the results of Ahmadinejad’s election again.

Last week the council suddenly imposed new conditions on the candidates, a move that was deemed illegal. Candidates must be between 40 and 75 years old, have no criminal record – including disagreement – and must show documents showing at least four years of senior management experience.




Source link

Related Articles

Back to top button