Who are the candidates for the Iranian presidential elections and what is their political background?

There are two candidates among the reformists currently at the centre of interest, they are Mehdi Karroubi and Hossein Mousavi, while the radicals have presented Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Mohsen Rezai.

Let us start with the first reformist, Mehdi Karroubi.

Karroubi is 72 years old, he wears a white turban and has been President of the Parliament. In recent weeks he has been trying to court the young who represent a strong element among voters, for example appearing with an Iranian rapper, a Zirzamin underground musician, running the risk of losing consensus among the more traditionalist classes according to whom music is forbidden by Orthodox Islam. Karroubi’s slogan has changed; not really in the sense understood by American President Barack Obama, but rather in a theological and metaphysical sense. This change is the one quoted in the Holy Koran (verse 55 of the Sura 29, in which there is a reference to divine manifestation as continuous transformation, Editor’s note).

What about the other reformist candidate, Mousavi?

Mousavi is 67 years old and graduated as an architect. He is currently President of the Fine Arts Academy. He was Prime Minister in the days of Ayatollah Khomeini, from 1981 to 1989, hence throughout the Iran-Iraq war and at a time when this appointment still existed. At that time the President of the Republic was the current Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Khamenei. It is important to emphasise how Mousavi had therefore already gained political experience with the Supreme Leader. Since then, however, he has remained outside the political sphere for twenty years and this seems to be his weak point. Karroubi, his opponent from the reformist front, has criticised him as a politician unknown to the broader public, a shortcoming that stops him from being a suitable candidate.

And then of course there is the current President, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad…

Ahmadinejad is leading in the opinion polls. At 52 he is younger than the others and therefore in a sense also closer to the American President Barack Obama. Ahmadinejad represents another generation, he gained very important experience in the Revolutionary Guards (a military organisation loyal to the Supreme Leader, Editor’s note) and the support of what is effectively the emerging class that has penetrated the traditional alliance between Bazaris and the Ulemas. He has the explicit support of 14 “principle-based” parties (faithful to “principles”, the most conservative, editor’s note), although it is difficult to speak of political parties in Iran, the words groups and factions would be more appropriate. Even the principal-based definition makes no difference, because from a political viewpoint Iran’s identities are more “fluid” than generally thought. The fact that these groups have expressed support for Ahmadinejad is extremely important since it indicates that the Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei is behind this consensus. One important issue that has emerged in recent weeks is the voting age. Ahmadinejad has asked parliament to abrogate the law that lowers the voting age from 18 to 15, using the excuse that this would be the best possible gift to young Iranians. The young voters are the key issue in these elections but the Iranian parliament has rejected the draft for this bill.

Is it possible to compare Khatami, the reformists’ former President of the Republic, and the new reformist candidate Mousavi? In what ways do they differ and what ideas do they instead share?

Khatami has had eight years to express his opinions. He is a member of the clergy and wears the black turban, indicating that he is a direct descendent from the Prophet’s family. Related also to Khomeini’s family, he is a man of this regime, as is Mousavi, and neither of them are new faces for the establishment. Khatami however has philosophical training, he has gained experience in Germany at the Hamburg Islamic Centre, he has promote a dialogue of civilisations based on a real re-interpretation of religion. Mousavi’s strength lies in the fact that during the Eighties he gained experience in the financial sector and has managed to lead Iran out of a crisis that was above all an economic one and preceded Iran’s post-war reconstruction period that started in the Nineties.

As far as Khatami is concerned, Iran experienced profound problems during his presidency. The former President did not defend the students in 1999 and the many members of civil society who believed in the springtime of Teheran and ending up in prison during those same years, people such as Shirin Ebadi, Mehrangiz Kar, Shahla Laheji etc. These memories are still very vivid, while, as previously mentioned, Mousavi is unknown to the wider public, he does not wear a turban – and this might play in his favour. One must however bear in mind that while the President of the Republic is one of the many players in this country’s complex politics, it is also true that he has a series of prerogatives. Should he however decide to implement reforms, the Council of Guardians can always prevent this and there are other power centres that the President of the Republic cannot control.

In the political choices they make, will young Iranians be influenced in these elections by what is said and what takes place outside Iran?

What takes place outside Iran is filtered greatly by the local media. There is talk of satellite television and the internet, but very few people have access to these. That said, Iranians are extremely critical of the authorities, as proved by the last one hundred years of Iranian history. International isolation weighs enormously on political choices. The young experience immense problems in obtaining scholarships to study abroad, and nowadays, as a second choice they look more to the East than to the West. They emigrate to India, Malaysia and Japan.

Translation by Francesca Simmons