TEHRAN, 23 June 2005 — The camp of moderate cleric Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani made a last-ditch effort yesterday to sway undecided voters in Iran’s tense presidential election, saying his rival was a reactionary extremist bent on overturning reform. With the outcome of Friday’s vote too close to call, Rafsanjani and ultra-conservative Tehran Mayor Mahmood Ahmadinejad had one last day of legal campaigning to swing one of the most crucial elections in the Islamic republic’s history.
Rafsanjani must win over the support of disenchanted reformers and an apathetic electorate if he is to prevent an Ahmadinejad victory, which would leave all Iranian institutions in the hands of the anti-Western right. It could also see Iran adopting a less conciliatory foreign policy, something that has already worried governments in Europe involved in delicate negotiations with Tehran over its nuclear program.
As allegations of foul play and an orchestrated election plot continued to swirl, Rafsanjani’s high-profile supporters in the corridors of power lined up to denounce his opponent. “Friday will be a decisive day for the country. The future of the country and the revolution are at stake,” warned Rafsanjani loyalist and top nuclear negotiator Hassan Rohani.
“Do you want to throw away the gains of the revolution? Do you want to relive the years of 1980 and 1981?” he asked, referring to the wave of assassinations of revolutionary leaders by extremists in those years.
Molavi Abdolhamid Esmail Zehi, leader of Iran’s minority Sunnis, said “we should not leave the country in the hands of an extremist government.”
President Mohammed Khatami, meanwhile, “is worried about the future of the country and believes that we need to continue the reform process we have embarked upon with the people,” government spokesman Abdollah Ramazanzadeh said.
Ahmadinejad’s camp has made efforts to shake off the “extremist” tag plastered on their candidate since his shock success in last week’s first round, saying talk he was an Iranian “Taleban” were “lies on a grand scale”. The election is set to polarize Iran, pitting a moderate conservative vowing to improve ties with the West against a man who espouses the “purity” of the revolution and many fear will roll back cautious social and economic reform. The tension ahead of the vote has been intensified by allegations of dirty tricks in the first round and fears they could be repeated in the second.
The reformist-controlled Interior Ministry said it had uncovered a network that had printed “millions” of CDs and pamphlets as part of a smear campaign to denigrate the candidates. “All the people involved in the Interior Ministry are more determined than before to make sure the election goes forward in a healthy way,” said Interior Minister Abdolvahed Moussavi Lari.
He said the campaign appeared to be targeted against “top regime officials”, in a thinly veiled reference to Rafsanjani, who has been a pillar of the Islamic republic for the past quarter century but has been targeted by corruption allegations. Ramazanzadeh also alleged “certain organs” were buying votes in poorer areas of the country.
Rafsanjani has managed to mobilize broad support from reformist and conservative groups but it remains to be seen whether disillusioned liberals will line up behind the 70-year-old ayatollah - hardly their natural ally.
His biggest threat is perhaps a substantial boycott of the vote by liberals like Nobel Peace Prize winner Shirin Ebadi who argue the whole process is flawed given that all the candidates were chosen by the Guardians Council in the first place.
In addition, Ahmadinejad has gained momentum as a populist public servant in touch with key bread-and-butter issues such as unemployment, housing, purchasing power and economic corruption.
