<
https://www.theguardian.com/world/article/2024/jul/06/iran-reformist-masoud-pezeshkian-extends-lead-in-presidential-election-count>
"The reformist Masoud Pezeshkian has pulled off a stunning victory in the
Iranian presidential runoff, reflecting deep dissatisfaction with the direction
of the country in recent years and opening potential new avenues of cooperation
with the west.
Pezeshkian won 16,384,403 votes to defeat the ultra-conservative Saeed Jalili,
who received 13,538,179 votes, on a final turnout of 49.8% – a big increase on
the record low turnout of 39% recorded in the first round. In the first round,
Pezeshkian came top, defeating three Conservative rivals. The turnout included
more than 1m invalid votes.
Pezeshkian has been an advocate of letting women choose whether to wear the
hijab and ending internet restrictions that require the population to use VPN
connections to avoid government censorship. He said after his victory: “The
difficult path ahead will not be smooth except with your companionship, empathy
and trust.”
Under the slogan “For Iran”, Pezeshkian had promised to be a voice of the
voiceless, saying protests must not be met with the police baton. Although some
regard him as naive in high politics, a large part of his campaign was
deliberately framed around his personal integrity, as well as his absence from
ministerial office for the past decade. There were immediate calls from his
backers to release political prisoners from jails, a symbol of the pent-up
demands he may struggle to satisfy.
Pezeshkian faces a minefield in trying to bring about change, and although he
has said he is loyal to Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, he has
also said he will resign if he feels he is being thwarted, and will then call
on the population to withdraw from the political process.
The precise powers of the president in the field of foreign policy are
disputed, but Pezeshkian argued in successive, often acrimonious TV debates
that he could not bring about change, including the lowering of 40% inflation,
unless he could secure the lifting of some sanctions, which would require a
less confrontational approach to international relations.
During the campaign, he said Iran had found itself inside an economic cage as a
result of its foreign policy, and needed to be more cooperative to see if
sanctions could be lifted."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
