Interim report on Iran’s elections — Rafsanjani and Khatami voting together
So-called Iranian “moderates” are apparently staging something of a comeback in the current elections. Middle East Times:
The Fars and Mehr news agencies, close to Islamic conservatives, both ran reports saying partial results showed that centrist cleric Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani was ahead in Tehran in the vote for the Assembly of Experts. The reports cited informed sources and, if confirmed, such a result would constitute a surprisingly convincing comeback for the former president and a modest victory for moderate forces.
The vote for the 86-member Assembly of Experts was characterized by competing lists between those of Rafsanjani and the ultra-conservative cleric Mohammed Taghi Mesbah Yazdi [whom we discussed here -- ed.], seen as Ahmadinejad’s spiritual mentor. According to the reports, Mesbah Yazdi was so far lagging in Tehran, behind a clutch of other clerics loyal to Rafsanjani.
Reformist newspapers adorned front pages with a picture of Rafsanjani voting together with the former reformist president Mohammad Khatami, hailing a burgeoning alliance between the two men. “Regardless of any results, one of the key outcomes is the coalition of reformists,” said the Ayanadeh No daily. The symbolic image of the two former presidents voting together emphasized how reformists and centrists are increasingly joining forces to combat the ultra-conservatives loyal to Ahmadinejad.
According to other reports, the 15 seats of Tehran city council were set to be shared between reformists, hard-line conservatives close to Ahmadinejad, and technocrats loyal to current Tehran mayor Mohammed Baqer Qalibaf. Ahmadinejad’s sister Parvin, who was standing on the conservative list, was in line to win a seat, the reports said. Such an outcome would mark an end to total hardline domination of the Tehran council after conservatives swept all the seats on the once reformist-controlled body in the February 2003 local elections.
We understood that Ahmadinejad was hoping that the elections were going to make it possible for him to consolidate power, and this does not appear to have happened, at least from this report.
January 22nd, 2007 at 4:32 am
Iran is a country with much on the line, to be sure. If Rafsanjani becomes head of the council of Experts (he is at present deputy), he will choose the man that replaces the present Ayatollah. This article - http://www.eurekastreet.com.au/article.aspx?aeid=2120 continues this discussion.