This article by the Guardian purports to tell you everything you to know about the election https://www.theguardian.com/world/2...dential-elections-everything-you-need-to-know And then we have this article from tools of the pro Israel lobby in the US. http://time.com/4779904/iran-election-khamenei-nuclear-deal/ Iran's Election Will Change Nothing Neither picture, in fact, is all that accurate. Both contain seeds of the truth, but the ultimate reality isn't so much something between what they say, but perhaps something else altogether. In the meantime, here are some videos from the election rallies in Iran in support of the two main candidates, incumbent president Rouhani and - with Tehran mayor Ghalibaf dropping to endorse Raisi - his challenger from the principalist camp, Raisi. I will try to post more videos including the campaign add of the two candidates to give a better sense of the election campaign and atmosphere within Iran. Video of Raisi campaign rally in Tehran: Video from Rouhani campaign rallies
Does it really matter who gets elected? The way I understand it, the supreme leader, and Council of Gurdians are the ones that run the show.
It does matter, not more than it matters who gets elected as POTUS but not necessarily any less! Your understanding of Iran is skewed by a lot of propaganda you are exposed to as there are quite a few outlets whose job is to deny legitimacy to Iran's government and who have consistently tried to encourage a boycott of Iran's elections. Otherwise, people in Iran wouldn't get this riled up and emotional about an election that doesn't mean anything and wouldn't participate in such high rates in Iran's elections if it didn't matter. I can explain the structure in detail if you wish, but the basic impression that would be correct is that the day to day affairs of the state in various arenas (both domestic and foreign) are under the direction of the president, while any important new policy decisions not embodied in prior legislation or prior directives of the Supreme National Security Council (which president chairs, but whose day to day affairs are run by the secretary of the Supreme National Security Council chosen by the president in consultation with the Supreme Leader), will require the approval of the Supreme Leader. In this equation, unlike the other organs of the executive branch whose day to day functions are under the direction of the president and the cabinet, the revolutionary guards basically answer only to the Supreme Leader and not so much to the president.
According to Iran's Constitution, the Supreme Leader is responsible for the delineation and supervision of "the general policies of the Islamic Republic of Iran," which means that he sets the tone and direction of Iran's domestic and foreign policies. The Supreme Leader also is commander-in-chief of the armed forces and controls the Islamic Republic's intelligence and security operations; he alone can declare war or peace. He has the power to appoint and dismiss the leaders of the judiciary, the state radio and television networks, and the supreme commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. Twelve jurists comprise the Council of Guardians, six of whom are appointed by the Supreme Leader. The head of the judiciary recommends the remaining six, which are officially appointed by Parliament. The Council of Guardians is vested with the authority to interpret the constitution and determines if the laws passed by Parliament are in line with sharia (Islamic law). This means that the council has effective veto power over Parliament. If it deems that a law passed by Parliament is incompatible with the constitution or sharia, it is referred back to Parliament for revision. The council also examines presidential and parliamentary candidates to determine their fitness. At times, the council has dramatically winnowed the field of candidates. In the 1997 presidential election, for example, only four out of the 230 declared candidates made it to the ballot. So, once again what's the point of having a president, or parliament? http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/tehran/inside/govt.html
Sorry, but your question is a bit silly. It is kind of like me asking what is the purpose of the Senate and the House if the Supreme Court (through its power of judicial review) can invalidate their acts? Or what is the purpose of the president, if the Supreme Court can do the same as it relates to his actions? The president in Iran oversees the executive departments (ministries) which handle the affairs of state, appoints the government ministers (who need to be approved by parliament and can be impeached by parliament), and basically controls how the government budget is spent (albeit, in accordance with laws passed by the parliament and the government ordinances approved by the cabinet pursuant to such laws). The parliament, on the other hand, passes laws, even if those laws needs to be consistent with Iran's constitution and Islamic precepts (which means they need to be consistent with what the Guardians Council interprets it to be). As for screening of candidates by the Guardians Council, at first blush, this does raise a lot of issues and even in practice, I don't like the system as is even if it has some advantages (along with huge disadvantages) over the systems like the US where the screening is done unofficially, out of the public spot light, by the political parties and the special interest groups - that is unless you are a billionaire like Trump and don't need to finance your campaign by such contributions, which kind of makes you think maybe their screening isn't worse than the alternative. Anyway, since in Iran, anyone can register to run for president, every notable person who is disqualified is immediately noticed. And because Iran's government is keen to have a high turn out, in practice, the Guardians Council is always under pressure to make sure there is at least some representative from the various political factions approved among the candidates. In any case, no matter who was screened or approved, I doubt they could throw more mud and make more vocal criticism of the actions being taken by the government than now. The main difference would be on a few taboo subjects, and the list of such taboo subjects has dwindled very much. In this election, the candidates are basically lambasting either the elected government under Rouhani in very harsh terms, or the Rouhani camp is lambasting the unelected organs like the judiciary and the revolutionary guards in terms that are rather striking. P.S. I know you don't see it this way, but in the theory behind Iran's constitution, the Supreme Leader is supposed to stand above the political fray and is, therefore, entrusted with looking over the offices that are meant to be non-political, like the judiciary and the state owned media. The one exception is the revolutionary guard, but that is also because of a similar issue. Legally, as an institution, the revolutionary guards is not allowed to take part in politics or officially take sides between the various factions competing in elections. Whether they abide by the law is another question.
Yea, pretty much a guy(s) at the top can do whatever he wants while they have an appearance of a Democratically elected government running things. "Appearance", is what they strive for.
The election in Iran is this Friday. On Wednesday, both of the candidates were in the same city, Mashhad, campaigning. T Raisi Rally in Mashhad
In the meantime, Raisi is working hard to shed his image as a religious extremist, courting some unlikely figures. His campaign rallies often show women with loose hijabs supporting him. Most interesting was a meeting he had with an Iranian rap artist, Tataloo, who has 5+ million followers on Instagram. The image of Tataloo and Raisi was indeed a sight to behold! Here is one of Tataloo's music videos.
So tomorrow is the big day, I would like to see Rouhani re-elected but I think with the possibility of a new Ayatollah to be selected in the next four years, Raisi will be Iran's new president come next week.
Poll show a lot of undecided voters out there and I don't think anyone who knows who will win for sure. Rouhani has the lead, but is far from 50% in the polls that I have seen. Raisi is catching up but hasn't yet. As such, the outcome looks like it will be decided by the undecided voters
Rouhani has won in a landslide, in an election that became a referendum of sorts on the future course of the country. With these results, I am sure that the path towards Iran's capitulation on a host of issues signalling resistance to US hegemony in the region is going to be paved. On the bright side, perhaps such capitulation will be enough to see Iran spared a fate similar to what many others in our region are going through, although that is not certain by any means. On the negative side, any hope that Iran can become a major power wielding an influence and position commensurate with its history is perhaps postponed indefinitely, although that was already postponed in light of the nuclear deal and Raisi was certainly not the person to have kept Iran on that path in any case. Anyway, congratulations to Rouhani's supporters and my best wishes for an Iran that does live up to many of the slogans from the Rouhani campaign, even if I have serious concern about some of the things the Rouhani camp has done during their time in office. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2...-for-landslide-in-huge-victory-for-reformists Iran: Hassan Rouhani set for landslide in huge victory for reformists Just before 9am, the interior ministry said Rouhani was ahead, with 14 million votes to Ebrahim Raisi’s 10 million, with over half of votes counted
Well so much for my preconceived ideas and notions , Rouhani won and I'm quite happy to be wrong. I think Rouhani will be good for Iran, for too long has America represented the entire western world in dealings with Iran, there are many countries who would like to trade with Iran and I believe even many American businesspeople who would like Iran's doors to open wider for investment and trade. I'm wondering if we will now see status quo, more of the same or whether there were other election promises made by Rouhani that will take Iran into a specific direction.
Rouhani avoids a run-off with a 57% outright victory over his main rival... Iran election: Hassan Rouhani says voters rejected extremism Sat, 20 May 2017 - The president says his re-election shows that Iranians want more interaction with the world. See also: Iran's Rouhani wins big but will he deliver? Sat, 20 May 2017 - The Iranian president has been given a mandate to push through reforms, but how will hardliners react?
Here is an article on reaction from the other camp. http://www.reuters.com/article/us-iran-election-mood-idUSKBN18H0NL Brooding Iran hardliners say they must still be heard after Rouhani win
