TEHRAN, 9 November 2004 — Iran said yesterday presidential elections are expected to be held on May 13, a vote that will spell the end of President Mohammad Khatami’s largely unsuccessful eight-year drive to reform the Islamic state.
Khatami, who has encountered fierce opposition from powerful hardliners to his plans to promote justice, social and political freedoms and reform the state-run economy, can’t stand for a third successive term.
He was elected in a landslide of popular support, particularly from young and women voters, in 1997 and again in 2001. But Khatami’s popularity waned as Iranians grew frustrated with his apparent inability to overcome resistance to change among Iran’s clerical establishment.
Announcing the election date, Interior Ministry spokesman Jahanbakhsh Khanjani said it must be approved by the Guardian Council, an unelected hard-line watchdog body. The election had been widely expected to be held in mid-2005.
The Guardian Council barred thousands of pro-reform Khatami allies from running for Parliament earlier this year and political analysts expect it to veto any outspoken reformists from running in the presidential race.
Several political parties are backing a political comeback for former President Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani. But the powerful cleric, who political analysts say has a foot in both reformist and hard-line camps, has yet to declare his intention to run.
Other possible candidates touted by local media include former state television head Ali Larijani and former Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Velayati.
