Worldwide Elections 2008: #1 - Iran

dong20

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Unlike some Middle East nations Iran does hold Parliamentary as well as Presidential elections and, tomorrow, up to 43 million Iranians will be voting to elect representatives to the country's parliament, the Majlis.

Over 4500 candidates representing 30 provinces are competing for almost 300 seats, five seats being reserved for minority religions. It's a mainly conservative field this time because many liberals have been 'disqualified'.

It's being seen by many as a referendum on the popularity of President Ahmadinejad. He must wait until next year to learn his ultimate political 'fate'.

Discuss ...
 

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i read that something like 1500 candidates had been barred from standing. so that's a QUARTER of the total number, is it?!
 

vince

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4500 candidates for 300 seats means an average of 15 for each seat. Sounds pretty democratic.

Al Jazeera TV had a story about how unpopular Mr. I'madinnerjacket has become. Apparently his position on nuclear power and the sanctions by the west has tanked the economy. His position is not very secure at the moment.

Of course he may recover if Cheney's sword rattling gets louder. Now that the US admin has force Admiral Fallon to resign, many folks are worried that some strikes by the US or Israel are in the offing. I reckon the admin wants to keep Ahmadinejad in power. He is high profile enemy and the military industrial complex needs it enemies.
 

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all the opinion from inside iran that's available to read on the internet seems to reflect a deep cynicism about the current government. but then you would imagine the people who can access the internet are affluent middle classes who can afford computers. i guess it's pretty hard to determine whether the large part of Iranian voters blame Ahmedinejad (sp?) for high inflation, petrol shortages etc.

i do hope he goes though. i think he's more of an antagonist than even saddam hussein was in that region. and all his crap about wanting peace in Iraq (while his regime keeps funding and equipping the insurgents) makes me want to throttle his scrawny little neck.
 

dong20

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I think that the banned 1500 were on top of the 4500 already running?

Over 2000 were initially rejected and around 850 subsequently re-instated. As a point of (possible) interest, the late Ayatollah Khomeni's grandson was among those rejected, allegedly for not being sufficiently loyal to his Grandfather's '79 Islamic Revolution.

One other problem for the 'moderates' (or reformists as some refer to themselves), being that they are only eligible to stand in 130 seats, or less that half of the 290 in play. Even if they win them all, they remain a minority.
 

dong20

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Early results seem to suggest a turn out of around 65%, with about 70% of seats going to conservative candidates. No surprise there then.

The US has cast some doubts on the integrity of the elections. They did so before the actual voting of course, so no surprise there either.
 

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didn't Nostradamus write something about fraudulent election results in Iran in 2008?

hehe :rolleyes:

Early results seem to suggest a turn out of around 65%, with about 70% of seats going to conservative candidates. No surprise there then.

The US has cast some doubts on the integrity of the elections. They did so before the actual voting of course, so no surprise there either.
 

dong20

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didn't Nostradamus write something about fraudulent election results in Iran in 2008?

hehe :rolleyes:

More than that, he predicted a war (WWIII) beginning in May 2008, or 2010. It seems the precise timing depends on the Mabus enigma, or something. Apparently there's this comet, and ... well, it's all bit ...vague.:biggrin1:

He also predicted that "In the home of the greatest power, the village idiot will come forth and be proclaimed the leader". That was 450 years ago, smart man.
 

dong20

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With 2/3rd of seats declared, while hard liners will almost certainly hold a majority, the new Parliament looks like being far more closely split between Ahmadinejad's supporters and his opponents. A potentially volatile situation.

It likely won't matter, real power in Iran isn't wielded by Ahmadinejad anyway. Unless Iran's economy picks up PDQ, Ahmadinejad would be advised to update his resume for next summer when he may undergo an involuntary career change.