Presidential Election in Iran Today
Ahmadinejad
After a week of tech speak and reality show posts, it’s time for a little world news. You don’t want people thinking the only things you’re keen on are iPhones and family with gaggles of children. When you are out this weekend, mention the importance of Iran’s presidential election. There are four total candidates, but the focus is on incumbent President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad (the guy you see on TV a lot with a casual suit and no tie) and reformist Mir Hossein Moussavi (sometimes spelled Mousavi). Some basic facts:
- Ahmadinejad is often blamed for Iran’s current economic problems.
- No candidate is expected to make any significant changes in Iran’s nuclear policy.
- Moussavi “wants to reform Iran into a global communicator that embraces freedom of speech.” 1
- A simple majority must be reached by a candidate (50%+) or a runoff election occurs next Friday.
Moussavi
The links below offer MUCH more information, but from the news articles, Ahmadinejad (current president) seems to be portrayed as the bad guy (“earned a reputation internationally as a fundamentalist for his Holocaust denials, calls to annihilate Israel, and cat-and-mouse games with the United States and the United Nations over Iran’s nuclear activities”) 2 while Moussavi seems to be the “reformer,” largely in part to his 20-year hiatus from politics, giving many voters a clean slate for his name.
Commit the two names to memory, follow the action, and be armed with some world news this weekend! Stay with Dinner Topics for an update to this post later this weekend, including why the president’s role in Iran is limited.
Read on:
CNN.com - Voter turnout could help unseat Iran’s Ahmadinejad
CNN.com – updated stories about Mahmoud Ahmadinejad
CNN.com – Moussavi: Painter, architect and possibly Iran’s next president
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Comments
Just updated from Time. A Q&A with Mousavi:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/time/20090612/wl_time/08599190434300
So it turns out that Iran’s elections are just like the United States — AP Headline: Rivals in Iran vote issue competing victory claims (Bush/Gore anyone?)
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090612/ap_on_re_mi_ea/ml_iran_election
The election – as expected, it’s finally official:
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124540205628930963.html
Funny how Mousavi (and anyone for that matter) appears moderate when measured against Ahmadinejad. Don’t be fooled though. Mousavi was the last prime minister of Iran (before constitutional changes split the post between new presidential and first vice-presidential offices). During his tenure, Mousavi was an extremist who led the nasty 8-year war with Iraq, and he tried his damnedest to spread the Islamic revolution throughout the region. Plus, doesn’t he look like Ahmadinejad, 20 years and a pair of reading glasses later?