CSAMES blog : IRAN’S PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION

Just a few minutes before the offices of the Ministry of Interior close on May 11, Akbar Hashemi-Rafsanjani registered as a candidate for the upcoming presidential elections in Iran. This is the fourth time that Rafsanjani runs for presidency, twice he has won (1989 and 1993) and once lost the to Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in 2005. In a show of massive support, within minutes after the news about Rafsanjani’s decision to enter the race was publicized, his supporters flooded the streets around the Ministry of Interior.

Esfandiar Rahim-Masha’ei was the other significant personality who appeared in person at the Ministry of Interior just before the end of the 5-day registration period. Masha’ei is Ahmadinejad’s handpicked candidate and many analysts refer to them as the Putin-Medvedev duo. Like Russia, in Iran there is a two consecutive term limits for presidency. Theoretically, Ahmadinejad can run again in four years and reoccupy the office at the end of his proxy’s term.

The other major figure in this race is Tehran’s mayor Mohammad-Baqer Qalibaf. The former police chief and a vocal critic of President Ahmadinejad, Qalibaf appears to be the main hope for the “conservative” coalition known as 2+1, a coalition which has the closest ties to the Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Khamenei.

These of course are only three candidates among 686 men and women who have announced their candidacy for the next Iranian President. The election is scheduled for Friday, June 14. The constitution has considered a broad series of qualification for the President:

1. To be a known religious or political personality.

2. Born citizen of Iran.

3. Proven record of administrative competence.

4. Proven record of piety and trusteeship.

5. Believe in the constitution of the Islamic Republic and the official religion of the nation.

With the exception of line 2 of the qualifications, the rest of the articles are rather subjective and open to interpretation. Every 4 years condition number 1 becomes an item of controversy along gender lines. The constitution states that the candidate must be of “rijal-e mazhabi va siyasi.” The word “rijal” in Arabic means “men.” In Farsi, however, the word rijal is only used as a signifier of the importance of a person, a known personality, a celebrity, without gender attribution. But since the first presidential elections, the Guardian Council, which is responsible for vetting the candidates and determining their qualifications, has interpreted the word in its original masculine Arabic usage, and thereby disqualified women from running for presidency.

Although the Iranian political system is nothing like a Western democracy, its presidential elections, remains as one of the world’s most unpredictable and highly contested forms of electoral politics. This might raise some eyebrows, particularly among those who see Iran simply as a totalitarian theocracy. For the next few weeks, I will try to keep you posted on the development in the Iranian presidential race as a way to demonstrate that Iran is neither a totalitarian state nor a theocracy in its restricted sense. It is rather an amalgam of competing interests, actors with diverse political visions, and genuine differences in the politics and policies.

As we get closer to the election-day, I will try to show the main differences between the candidates’ platforms, those who will be qualified by the Guardian Council. Chances are that out of those 686 people, only a handful, perhaps 4 or 5, will be qualified to run. But I thought it would be interesting to see some of the faces of the nominees and the carnivalesque atmosphere of the registration office during these past 5 days.

Here are some pictures of those you might not see on the campaign trail:

Four Years or Double "V"?

The youngest candidate!

The first woman who nominated herself this year told the reporters: "Do not ask me any political questions!"

Elvis?

A Luti !

Ready to make Iran independent from imported agrarian "strategic" goods!

The book is a copy of the constitution, the documents in the plastic bag, unknown!

Women came with all possible variations of Islamic hijab.

Perhaps being shy is not going to work in his favor!

He shares a name with Behrouz Vosouqi, the great Iranian actor who made the character
of "Qeisar" a hallmark of the Iranian cinema of the 1970s. Mr. Vosouqi, the candidate,
is a "Qeisar" impersonator.