Ex-President Rafsanjani, nuclear negotiator Jalili enter Iran's unpredictable presidential race

[bananas]

Source: Reuters

The resurgence of Rafsanjani, a relative moderate, radically alters what was previously seen as a contest between rival conservative groups; the June 14 election will determine Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's successor.

Former president Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani threw himself into Iran's election race on Saturday as a flurry of heavyweight candidates rushed to beat the registration deadline in the most unpredictable contest for decades.

<snip>

Rafsanjani, 78, who was president from 1989 to 1997, is expected to draw some support from reformists because he backed the opposition movement whose protests were crushed after the last, disputed election in 2009.

<snip>

A vast field of more than 400 candidates have thrown their names into the ring as potential successors to outgoing President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who has long been at odds with the supreme leader.

Shortly before Rafsanjani's announcement, Saeed Jalili, a hardline conservative who is seen as close to Khamenei and has led rounds of so far unsuccessful nuclear talks with world powers, entered his name as a candidate.

<snip>

Read more: http://www.haaretz.com/news/middle-east/ex-president-rafsanjani-nuclear-negotiator-jalili-enter-iran-s-unpredictable-presidential-race-1.523453

[MADem]

1. Will the Grand Gang of Bullies wipe their asses on his application, though?

That's usually what happens--they dump all the "good" candidates, and we're left with a field of assholes.

All candidates must be vetted by a conservative body of clerics and jurists known as the Guardian Council, which can disqualify any candidate without offering a justification. It typically narrows the field to just a handful of men.

[Ash_F]

2. Indeed, this system is the number one impediment to Iranian democracy.

It was put in place after the revolution against the Shah to prevent a CIA backed candidate from snatching power in the vacuum. Today it remains as tool to cement the power of the conservative right.

[David__77]

3. Rafsanjani is the candidate of neoliberalism.

He is no moderate when it comes to mandatory hijab, secularism, minority rights, etc. He is only a "moderate" when it comes to economically integrating Iran with the West. He is the candidate of the oligarchy of Iran.

[Ruby the Liberal]

4. He wasn't approved in 2009 because he would have been over 75 on election day

which is against Iranian law.

On another note, I wonder if Mousavi is going to toss his hat into the ring?