Reformist Masoud Pezeshkian and ultraconservative Saeed Jalili will compete for president Iranian in a second electoral round after neither candidate obtained 50% of the votes in the first, the country’s Electoral Commission reported this Saturday.
These presidential elections, with only 40% of voters going to the polls, a number that shows citizens’ discontent with the economic situation and the lack of freedoms.
“None of the candidates received an absolute majority of votes“Election Commission spokesman Mohsen Eslami said at a televised press conference.
“A second round will be held as provided by law, which will be on July 5th”.added Eslami, who also announced this.
In the elections, reformist Pezeshkian won with 10,415,991 votes, representing 42.4% of the total, closely followed by Jalili with 9,473,298 votes or 38.6%.
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Far behind was the favorite at the start of the election campaign, the conservative pragmatist Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf, with 3,383,340 votes, 13.79%, and besides him the fourth candidate is the cleric Mostafa Pourmohammadi with 206,397 votes, 0.8%.
The election was held, who died in a helicopter crash in May, along with seven other people.
The Iranian president has decision-making power over national issues and, to a lesser extent, over foreign and security policy in Iran, where Khamenei serves as head of state with vast powers.
The heart surgeon Masoud PezeshkianThe 69-year-old former health minister began his election campaign with low expectations, but has been gaining momentum with a message of rapprochement with the West and criticism of the veil.
His electoral slogan is “For Iran”, which evokes the title of the song that became the anthem of the protests triggered by the death of Mahsa Amini and whose author, Shervin Hajipour, was sentenced to almost four years for it.
He has received the support of former presidents Mohamed Khatami (1997-2005) and Hasan Rohaní (2013-2021) of the reformist bloc, which seeks a certain opening of the country, after a moderate was not allowed to participate in the presidential elections 2021. elections and belongs to the Azerbaijani minority.
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In fact, Pezeshkian presented his hypothetical government as a “third term” for Khatami, the first reformist president who gave a certain air of openness to Iran and with whom he entered politics in 2000 as Minister of Health.
At the opposite pole is JaliliIran’s former chief nuclear negotiator, 58, has been described as a “true product of the Islamic Revolution”, served as an adviser to Iran’s supreme leader Ali Khamenei and opposes the West.
Jalili is considered the candidate of the status quo and will follow the policies of the ultra-conservative Raisi, under whose government repression has increased.
Little involvement
which attaches great importance to participation in elections as a sign of its legitimacy and popular support.
Thus, the percentage of votes is below the previous presidential elections, in 2021, which registered 48%, and the parliamentary elections in March, when 41% voted.
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This low turnout shows the level of popular discontent due to the poor economic situation, the lack of freedoms and a deep distancing from the Islamic Republic, especially among young people.
Khamenei’s repeated calls to vote “for the continuation, strength, dignity and honor of the Islamic Republic” appear to have fallen on deaf ears.
If the authorities consider the vote a show of support, many Iranians believe that abstention is a form of protest and delegitimization of the Islamic system.
Source: Elcomercio
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