A lot of Iranians are planning to vote so hardliner Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad would not be re elected.But don’t get me wrong, the candidates that are running are not selected by the Iranians. Most of the Iranians don’t feel their vote will make much of a difference in their future. They are really choosing between bad and worse.
People in Iran have no say in the selection process of their presidential candidates. The candidates must be approved by the Iranian supreme leader. In another words if the supreme leader doesn’t feel a candidate should not run, the selection process is eliminated.
In our country our president doesn’t hold much power. All the mandates are dictated by the supreme leader. Former president Khatami once said, “The Iranian presidents play a role of a facilitator.”
Another point in my country is lack of legitimate election. There have been reports that government will issue fake birth certificates so they can register people and vote for their favorite candidate.The government wants to show the world that the elections are legitimate; however we know that Iranian people had nothing to do with the selection of their candidates.
So far among the candidates, Ahmadinejad, Mir Hossein Mousvai and Karrubi are among the most known candidates.
Mousavi leans towards the left wing ideologies and based on my conversations with my friends in Iran, most of the students want to vote for him.
Young people in Iran are worried since Ahmadinejad’s message resonates with the poor and uneducated segment of the society he may have a good chance for reelection, because he keeps promising prosperity for these people.
At the end of the day we have no choice for our presidential elections but to choose between bad and worse.
