Politics Reformer Peseschkian ahead in Iran election - run-off on July 5
In the presidential election in Iran, the moderate politician Massud Peseshkian is ahead with around 42.5 percent of the vote. The hardliner Said Jalili follows in second place with around 38.7 percent, as the spokesman for the electoral authority announced on state television on Saturday. As none of the candidates achieved an absolute majority, there will be a run-off election on July 5. The incumbent parliamentary speaker Mohammed Bagher Ghalibaf followed in third place with around 13.8 percent. The Islamic cleric Mostafa Purmohammadi received less than one percent of the vote.
29.06.2024, 10:19
SDA
Around 61 million voters were called upon to elect a new head of government on Friday. The polling stations were open until late in the evening after being extended several times by the Ministry of the Interior. Out of a total of 80 candidates, the so-called Guardian Council, a powerful Islamic supervisory body, had only approved six as candidates for the election. Two of them withdrew.
The electoral authorities counted a total of just over 24 million votes cast. This puts the voter turnout at a historically low 40 percent. In the last presidential election in 2021, it was around 49%.
Most of the country's inhabitants, especially young people, have lost faith in major domestic political change. Some activists and the imprisoned Nobel Peace Prize winner Narges Mohammadi called for a boycott of the election. The president has only limited power as head of government in Iran. The head of state and most powerful man is the 85-year-old religious leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
During the election campaign, the candidates mainly debated ways to overcome the enormous economic crisis in the country. Iran is subject to international sanctions due to its controversial nuclear program and is largely cut off from the global financial system. The country needs billions in investment.
Iran's political system has combined republican and theocratic features since the 1979 revolution. However, there are no free elections: the supervisory body of the Guardian Council always checks candidates for their suitability. Fundamental criticism of the system is not tolerated, as the suppression of protests in recent years has shown.
