2005 Iranian presidential election
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Turnout | 62.66% (first round) 59.84% (second round) | ||||||||||||||||
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Presidential elections were held in
As no candidate received a majority of the vote in the first round, a run-off was held between the top two candidates, former president (1989–1997) Akbar Rafsanjanī and Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the hardline mayor of Tehran. Although Ahmadinejad had finished second in the first round of voting, he won the second round with 63% of the vote. Factors thought to have contributed to Ahmadinejad's victory include mobilization of mosque networks and conservative/hardline voters, and a protest vote against corrupt elite insiders and for "new political blood".[1] A loyal supporter of conservative Supreme Leader Khamenei, Ahmadinejad kissed the leader's hand during his inauguration ceremony.[2][3]
Schedule
Schedule of the election had been decided between the Ministry of Interior and the Guardian Council for 17 June 2005. The election will continue as a runoff race, which will take place a week later than the first round of elections, on 24 June 2005. The registration of candidates began on 10 May 2005 and continued for five days, until 14 May. If the Guardian Council had requested, it may have been extended for five more days, until 19 May. The candidates were not allowed to do advertisements, until the final list of approved candidates are known. The official period for advertisement was from 27 May to 15 June.
In the first round, Iranian nationals born on or before 17 June 1990, residing in or outside Iran, were able to vote. The election in Iran began on 09:00 local time (04:30
The first three suggestions by the Ministry, for 13 May, 20 May and 10 June 2005, had been rejected by the council. The Ministry had mentioned that it is concerned that an election later than 20 May may collide with the final exams of the elementary schools and high schools.
The second round of the election occurred on 24 June and Iranian nationals born on or before 24 June 1990 were able to vote. The election in Iran began at 09:00 local time (04:30 UTC) and the closing time of the voting polls was at 19:00 (14:30 UTC), but was subject to extension by the Ministry of Interior.
Candidates
The registration of the candidates finished on 14 May 2005 and 1014 candidates had registered to run, including many people who did not have the qualifications required in the law. More than 90% of the candidates were men, and there were about ninety female candidates. The law about the election process does not include any requirements for people who want to register to run: it only provides qualifications that are to be checked by the Guardian Council.
The candidates must have first be approved by the
Also, there was a high probability of rejection of women, because of an ambiguous term ("rejāl", رجال) in the
There had also been discussions for a new law proposed in the
Approved candidates
The list of all the people who have officially registered to run for the post is not available to the public, but the Guardian Council published a final list of six approved candidates on 22 May rejecting all independent candidates and some candidates from the both wings, specially the reformist candidates
Mohsen Rezaee, one of the approved conservative candidates, who is the Secretary of Expediency Discernment Council and a previous commander of the Iran–Iraq War, withdrew in the evening of 15 June.
These were the candidates approved by the Council of Guardians:
Trans-party
- Workers' House (reformist), as well as several other parties across the whole spectrum of positions. Rafsanjani confirmed he is running for the election on 10 May after much speculation.[5]
Reformists
- Democracy Party of Iran.
- Mohsen Mehralizadeh, Vice-President and Head of National Sports Organization, member of IIPF. Mehralizadeh has first announced that he would be running for the post on behalf of the Iranian younger generation, but not if the reformist alliance reached consensus on another candidate, but during the registration mentioned that he would remain in the race until the end.
- Islamic Assembly, as his spokeswoman.
Conservatives
- Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Mayor of Tehran, member of Islamic Society of Engineers (ISE), supported by some parts of Alliance of Builders of Islamic Iran (ABII). Although Ahmadinejad said he would not seek nomination on 2 February 2005, he returned to the scene later.
- Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, former Commander of Police (niroo-ye entezaami), partially supported by the Alliance of Builders. Contrary to the public announcement of Ayatollah Khamenei, the Supreme Leader of Iran, that nobody knows who he will personally vote for, Ghalibaf had claimed privately that he is the person Khamenei will vote for.
- IRIB, who was supposed to be the major conservative candidate, as chosen by his party, the Islamic Society of Engineers, as well as the "Council for Coordinating the Revolution Forces" (showrā-ye hamāhangi-e nirūhā-ye enǧelāb), a council of some older and very influential leaders of the conservative alliance.
Rejected candidates
- Reformists
- Akbar A'lami, Majlis representative of Tabriz.
- Ebrahim Asgharzadeh, former member of Tehran city council, Secretary General of Islamic Iran Solidarity Party (Hezb-e Hambastegi-e Irān-e Eslāmi), and one of the hostage-takers in Iran hostage crisis.[6] Asgharzadeh was even not supported by his own party (Islamic Iran Solidarity Party). Asgharzadeh was rejected by the Guardian Council to run as a candidate in the 2001 presidential elections, which had made him unlikely to be approved this time.
- Democracy Party (hezb-e mardomsālāri).[6]Kavakebian supported Karroubi after he himself was rejected.
- Conservatives
- Zabihollah Bakhshi, commonly known as Haji Bakhshi, militia leader
- Zanjan, a member of conservative caucus in parliament. On 30 March, she stated that she would run independently, not supported by any significant party in the conservative alliance. It was assumed by some people that she would probably get rejected by the Guardian Council, because of the rejāl requirement (see above).
- Reza Zavare'i, former member of Guardian Council, invited to run by Chekaad-e Daaneshjooyaan-e Mosalmaan
- Independents
- Esteghlalfootball club. After his rejection, Hejazi supported Rafsanjanī as president.
- Mohammad Hossein Pahlevan, known as Arshia, pop singer
- Azam Taleghani, daughter of Ayatollah Mahmoud Taleghani.
- Freedom Movement Party. After being rejected by the Guardian Council, Yazdi is supporting Moeen for the presidency.
- Unknown affiliation
- Ayatollah Mohammad Sajjadi[citation needed]
Declinations and withdrawals
The most important withdrawal was that of Mohsen Rezaee, one of the candidates who was approved by the Guardian Council and participated in the race until the evening of 15 June 2005, two days before the election and only a few hours before the final deadline allowed for advertisements. Rezaee mentioned he was withdrawing from the race for "the integration of the votes of the nation" and "their effectiveness". He did not endorse any candidate. [1]
Also, several people were considered possible candidates for the post, who later declined to run early in the race or at the final moments before registration. A list of the ones considered seriously in the media includes:
- Reformists
- Safdar Hosseini, Minister of Economy and Finance Affair, member of IIPF
- Society of Forces Following the Line of the Imam, declined on 6 December 2004
- Mohammad Reza Khatami, former Majlis Vice Speaker, Secretary General of IIPF
- Hassan Khomeini, grandson of Ruhollah Khomeini
- Mir-Hossein Mousavi, former Prime Minister, declined on 12 October 2004
- Mohammad Mousavi-Khoiniha, member of MCS, declined on 21 November 2004
- Behzad Nabavi, former Majlis Vice Speaker, member of MIRO
- Mohammad Ali Najafi, former Minister of Education
- Abdollah Ramezanzadeh, Spokesman of Government, member of IIPF
- Conservatives
- Majlis, he declined his activities for election and said that he will try to re-ally conservatives for election.
- Abdollah Jasbi, President of Islamic Azad University. Jasbi withdrew in favor of Rafsanjanī.
- IPM. He strongly endorses his brother Ali Larijani for presidency.
- Hossein Mirmohammad-Sadeghi, former speaker of Judiciary Branch
- Ahmad Tavakkoli, Majlis representative and Director of Majlis Research Center and former presidential candidate. Tavakkoli resigned from the race on 1 May 2005, telling that he is doing this to help minimize the diversity in the conservative camp. He is supporting Ghalibaf in the elections.
- Ali Akbar Velayati, an Adviser to the Supreme Leader for foreign affairs, and a former Minister of Foreign Affairs. Velayati was supported inside the conservative alliance by Islamic Coalition Party (ICP). Valayati had confirmed that he does not accept the support of the Council for Coordination and will run independently, unless Akbar Rafsanjanī, who was the President of Iran during Velayati's ministership, runs. On 14 May, Velayati did not register to run until the official deadline, and then announced that he is supporting Rafsanjani in the elections.
- Independents
- Shirin Ebadi, winner of Nobel Peace Prize in 2003, declined on 2 January 2005, despite support among some independent groups and parties, which are usually called pro-Human rights
Campaign
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The best financed candidate, Rafsanjani, campaigned with an entourage of bullet-proof Mercedes limousines.
Ahmadinejad used mosque networks and his personal ties to the Revolutionary Guards and Basij for his campaign. In TV advertisements he was shown praying and praising veterans of the Iran–Iraq War for their sacrifices. He campaigned in an old 1977 Peugeot 504 car.[9]
Some voters, including exiled citizens belonging to opposition political groups or
While some members of the intellectual community in Iran supported the boycott, some key figures, residing inside Iran or exiled to Europe or North America, had asked their readers and the general population to vote in the election, reasoning that not voting in the election would result in the election of one of the three conservative candidates, who were all military people with a background in Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. The most famous supporters of voting in the intellectual community included Ebrahim Nabavi, Masoud Behnoud, and Khashayar Deyhimi. These people were mostly supporting Moeen as their preferred candidate who is considered to be the least aligned with Ayatollah Khamenei, but a few have also talked or written in support of Rafsanjanī or Karroubi. Emadeddin Baghi, the President of the Iranian Association for Supporting Prisoners' Rights and one of the boycotters, has also spoken in support of Rafsanjani and mentioned that while he still considers Rafsanjani a conservative, he prefers his traditional conservatism to Ahmadinejad's fundamentalism.
Endorsements
- First round
Opinion polls
Potential candidate | Percentage |
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Akbar Rafsanjanī | 28.2(%)
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Mehdi Karoubi
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8.8(%)
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Ali Akbar Velayati | 5.6(%)
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Ali Larijani | 4.4(%)
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Mostafa Moeen | 4.1(%)
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Ahmad Tavakoli
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3.9(%)
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Mohsen Rezaei
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2.1(%)
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Hassan Rouhani | 2.1(%)
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Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf | 1.9(%)
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Mohammad Reza Aref | 1.8(%)
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Mahmoud Ahmadinejad | 1.7(%)
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Candidate | Percentage |
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Mahmoud Ahmadinejad | 45(%)
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Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani
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39.7(%)
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Conduct
After the first round of the election, some people, including
Akbar Rafsanjanī, the leading candidate, has also pointed to organized and unjust interventions by "guiding" the votes, and has supported Karroubi's complaint.
A suspicious election result pointed out by Western journalist Christopher de Bellaigue was a 95% voter turnout and first-place result for Ahmadinejad in the province of
Also, some political groups, including the reformist party Islamic Iran Participation Front, have alleged that Ahmadinejad had only ranked second because of the illegal support and advertising activities for him during the voting by the supervisors selected by the Guardian Council, while the supervisors should have remained impartisan according to the election law. Also, the reformist newspaper Shargh has pointed to an announcement by Movahhedi Kermani, the official representative of the supreme leader in Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps, mentioning "vote for a person who keeps to the minimum in his advertisements and doesn't lavish", which uniquely pointed to Ahmadinejad.
Some of the controversies involve activities of the Guardian Council such as the publishing an opinion poll before the election giving Ahmadinejad front-runner status. It also announced the partial results of the election on the day after the election, putting Ahmadinejad on the second rank while he was still in the third rank in the partial statistics published by the Ministry of Interior, which led to President Khatami going to the Ministry several times and explicitly asking the council to not announce any more partial results.
Results
The
The first round of the election was a very close race with minor differences in the number of votes won by each candidate which led to a run-off a week later with Ahmadinejad and ex-president
After the results of the first round, many of the supporters of the boycott supported Rafsanjani, and many of the supporters of the reformist candidates, including many supporters of Moeen, are doing the same. Islamic Iran Participation Front (IIPF) and Mojahedin of the Islamic Revolution Organization (MIRO), as the two main parties who supported Moeen, are included, with IIPF asking for "uniting against the rise of religious fascism" and MIRO telling about the rival "Führer-istic mindset". Moeen himself has mentioned that he will not personally vote in the second round, but that his supporters "should take the danger of fascism seriously" and should not think about a boycott in the second round.
This was the first presidential runoff in the history of Iran. Before the run-off took place, it was compared to the
Candidate | First round | Second round | ||
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Votes | % | Votes | % | |
Akbar Rafsanjanī | 6,179,653 | 22.00 | 10,046,701 | 36.76 |
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad | 5,710,354 | 20.33 | 17,284,782 | 63.24 |
Mehdi Karroubi | 5,056,686 | 18.00 | ||
Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf | 4,075,189 | 14.50 | ||
Mostafa Moeen | 4,069,699 | 14.49 | ||
Ali Larijani | 1,716,081 | 6.11 | ||
Mohsen Mehralizadeh | 1,287,440 | 4.58 | ||
Total | 28,095,102 | 100.00 | 27,331,483 | 100.00 |
Valid votes | 28,095,102 | 95.83 | 27,331,483 | 97.63 |
Invalid/blank votes | 1,221,937 | 4.17 | 663,770 | 2.37 |
Total votes | 29,317,039 | 100.00 | 27,995,253 | 100.00 |
Registered voters/turnout | 46,786,418 | 62.66 | 46,786,418 | 59.84 |
Source: IFES, IFES |
First round results by province
Province | Ahmadinejad | Karroubi | Larijani | Mehralizadeh | Moeen | Ghalibaf | Rafsanjanī | Total votes |
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Ardabil |
34,090 | 53,906 | 7,766 | 111,465 | 67,134 | 106,272 | 95,490 | 476,123 |
Azarbaijan, East |
198,417 | 121,969 | 28,075 | 378,604 | 190,211 | 122,160 | 268,954 | 1,308,390 |
Azarbaijan, West |
75,319 | 99,766 | 15,435 | 163,091 | 146,941 | 141,289 | 151,525 | 793,336 |
Bushehr |
82,376 | 98,148 | 8,207 | 4,942 | 68,547 | 46,962 | 97,412 | 406,594 |
Chahar Mahaal and Bakhtiar |
90,960 | 75,044 | 23,127 | 5,051 | 48,356 | 64,068 | 59,521 | 366,128 |
Fars |
242,535 | 546,633 | 61,383 | 22,440 | 217,122 | 273,542 | 403,074 | 1,766,729 |
Gilan |
149,026 | 203,941 | 50,070 | 33,996 | 182,321 | 171,562 | 215,478 | 1,006,394 |
Golestan |
56,776 | 193,570 | 42,334 | 8,283 | 156,862 | 87,522 | 155,498 | 700,845 |
Hamadan |
195,030 | 218,018 | 24,002 | 20,496 | 84,424 | 72,986 | 175,997 | 790,953 |
Hormozgan |
80,154 | 177,413 | 78,161 | 9,679 | 153,648 | 25,326 | 75,601 | 599,982 |
Ilam |
32,383 | 108,627 | 6,783 | 3,026 | 56,526 | 41,082 | 40,580 | 289,007 |
Isfahan |
801,635 | 196,512 | 73,452 | 30,325 | 196,261 | 198,409 | 260,858 | 1,757,452 |
Kerman |
129,284 | 152,764 | 221,219 | 9,697 | 52,896 | 112,056 | 480,271 | 1,158,187 |
Kermanshah |
70,117 | 254,780 | 22,033 | 12,516 | 106,804 | 115,439 | 137,010 | 718,699 |
Khorasan, North |
22,954 | 89,551 | 16,900 | 8,209 | 37,330 | 100,091 | 70,407 | 345,442 |
Khorasan, Razavi |
377,732 | 297,967 | 78,976 | 33,488 | 325,281 | 877,665 | 527,707 | 2,518,816 |
Khorasan, South |
101,638 | 27,705 | 5,716 | 4,958 | 39,276 | 49,043 | 57,244 | 285,580 |
Khuzestan |
232,874 | 538,735 | 58,564 | 20,164 | 148,529 | 148,234 | 319,921 | 1,467,021 |
Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad |
34,396 | 96,459 | 20,306 | 1,572 | 50,954 | 52,259 | 56,154 | 312,100 |
Kurdistan |
22,353 | 111,249 | 7,785 | 10,261 | 92,884 | 48,913 | 54,004 | 347,449 |
Lorestan |
69,710 | 440,247 | 31,169 | 6,865 | 53,747 | 70,225 | 121,130 | 793,093 |
Markazi |
161,669 | 104,522 | 17,258 | 14,058 | 65,592 | 71,828 | 143,118 | 578,045 |
Mazandaran |
159,291 | 103,229 | 464,891 | 18,467 | 148,408 | 116,763 | 311,949 | 1,322,998 |
Qazvin |
118,414 | 81,569 | 18,078 | 24,649 | 68,366 | 77,399 | 108,928 | 497,403 |
Qom |
256,110 | 25,282 | 10,894 | 14,451 | 27,824 | 25,792 | 104,004 | 464,357 |
Semnan |
98,024 | 25,899 | 20,190 | 3,873 | 26,572 | 37,059 | 69,773 | 281,390 |
Sistan and Baluchestan |
47,743 | 77,017 | 24,954 | 7,312 | 479,125 | 68,605 | 155,147 | 859,903 |
Tehran |
1,500,829 | 415,187 | 246,167 | 281,748 | 648,598 | 614,381 | 1,274,276 | 4,981,186 |
Yazd |
175,206 | 58,132 | 9,317 | 5,186 | 60,510 | 66,892 | 77,924 | 453,167 |
Zanjan |
93,309 | 62,845 | 22,869 | 18,568 | 68,649 | 71,365 | 110,698 | 448,303 |
Total | 5,710,354 | 5,056,686 | 1,716,081 | 1,287,440 | 4,069,698 | 4,075,189 | 6,179,653 | 28,095,072 |
Source: Iran Data Portal |
References
- ^ Wright, Robin, Dreams and Shadows : the Future of the Middle East, Penguin Press, 2008, p. 317–8
- ^ "Behind Ahmadinejad, a Powerful Cleric". The New York Times. 9 September 2006. Archived from the original on 2 November 2006. Retrieved 6 December 2006.
- ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 15 July 2011. Retrieved 18 June 2011.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) - ^ "ISNA - 05-23-2005 - 84/3/2 - سرويس: / سياسي / خبر شماره: 531549". Archived from the original on 22 November 2005. Retrieved 23 May 2005.
- ^ "ISNA - 05-10-2005 - 84/2/20 - سرويس: / سياسي / خبر شماره: 525450". Archived from the original on 14 May 2005. Retrieved 10 May 2005.
- ^ a b c Bill Samii (6 June 2005), Iran Report, vol. 8, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, retrieved 28 December 2016
- ^ a b c Wright, Robin, Dreams and Shadows: The Future of the Middle East, Penguin Press, 2008, p. 315
- ^ Karl Vick, "Iranian elections marked by secular messages, apathy", The Washington Post, 15 June 2005
- ^ Wright, p. 316–17
- ^ "The Society of the Militant Clergy of Tehran (JRM)" (PDF), Iran Social Science Data Portal, Princeton University, 4 March 2013, retrieved 24 November 2016
- ^ ISSN 1913-9047.
- ^ "Moderation and Development Party backs Rowhani for president", Mehr News Agency, 14 September 2008, retrieved 24 November 2016
- ^ a b c Keshavarzian, Arang; Maljoo, Mohammad (17 June 2005). "Paradox and Possibility in Iran's Presidential Election". Middle East Research and Information Project.
- ^ a b c Samii, Abbas W. (Winter 2005), "The Changing Landscape of Party Politics in Iran—A Case Study" (PDF), Journal of the European Society for Iranian Studies (1): 53–62
- ^ "آشنایی با جمعیت وفاداران انقلاب اسلامی" (in Persian). Young Journalists Club. Retrieved 21 August 2016.
- ^ ISBN 978-1601270849
- ^ ISBN 978-0-19-537849-8.
- ^ Christopher de Bellaigue, The Struggle for Iran, New York Review of Books, 2007, p. 122
- ^ http://www.hamshahrionline.ir/News/Printable.aspx?id=87808[permanent dead link]
External links
- Guide to Iran's presidential polls, from BBC News
- Angus Reid Consultants - Election Tracker
- The text of the Iranian law for presidential elections (in Persian)
- ISNA report on Mousavi's declination, reported by Karroubi (in Persian)
- Situation on 6 December (in Persian)
- Run off results from the BBC
- Electoral Geography of Iranian presidential election, 2005
- Iran newspaper on the elections atmosphere after Mousavi'e declination (in Persian)