New Delhi
16 June 2005
Iranians go to the polls on Friday to elect a new president. The
results of the election, coming as it does amid US opposition to its policies, would
determine the course Iran charts for itself and the fate of the reforms process undertaken
by successive governments.
The buzz of Iranian presidential election can be heard in New Delhi where its
Embassy has drawn up elaborate plans for the casting of votes. "Polling will begin at 9
in the morning. Arrangements for casting of votes have also been made in Mumbai,
Bangalore, Hyderabad and Pune," an Embassy official told this newspaper.
A majority of the Iranians living in India are students. There are about five
thousand of them. Incidentally, half the population of Iran, the world's fourth-largest oil
exporter, is under 25. Then there are Iranian merchants who live in Mumbai and
elsewhere and trade in commodities.
"Some 200-odd ballots were cast in New Delhi in the 2001 presidential election.
This year we expect the number to touch 300," the official said. Polling will be open for
10 hours. Campaigning for the ended today.
India has recently inked a 22-billion-dollar deal with Iran for supply of liquefied
natural gas. A delegation led by Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Mani Shankar Aiyar
was in Tehran where the contract was signed for five million tonnes of LNG annually
over a 25-year period from 2009.
The president is elected for four years and can serve up to two consecutive
terms. President Mohammad Khatami is therefore ineligible to run. Moreover, a
candidate must win over 50 per cent of the vote failing which a repoll will be held
between the top two candidates on June 24.
A former president of Iran, Ayatollah Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani is one of the
candidates standing for election this time. Mr Rafsanjani was president from 1989 to
1997. Over one thousand candidates had wanted to contest the election but after vetting
by the Council, less than 10 candidates qualified.
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