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reuters
DUBAI
Kaveh Rastegari's desire for more freedoms and Ghorban Norouzi's worries about money illustrate the fault lines in Iranian society expected to sway a tightly fought presidential election on Friday.
After an unexpectedly close race between President Hassan Rouhani, the pragmatic incumbent, and hardline challenger Ebrahim Raisi, ordinary Iranians on the eve of the vote appeared united only in their weariness with a cheerless status quo.
Many voters preoccupied by bread-and-butter issues said they would probably vote for Shi'ite cleric Raisi, who has promised handouts for the poor though without saying how this would be funded.
For younger, particularly urban Iranians, many of whom want more democracy and social freedoms almost 40 years after the Islamic Revolution, Rouhani is the sole choice, even if it is one they're likely to make without real enthusiasm.
"I was 18 years old when I voted for Rouhani four years ago. I was young and inexperienced then. He promised freedom and I voted for him," Rastegari said in the southern coastal city of Bandar Abbas."Now, we (still) don't have freedom and don't have jobs. But I will still vote for him. We have no other choice."
Norouzi's priorities could not be more different."My kids cannot eat freedom," the municipality employee said in the northern city of Rasht."I need to pay the rent. I have to put bread on my family's table. I will vote for Raisi."
Taxi driver Ali Mousavi, too, is one of millions of Iranians fretting about the economy's continued torpor despite the lifting of sanctions under Rouhani's deal with world powers to curb Iran's disputed nuclear programme. Inflation has dropped to single digits but unemployment is still rising.
"I am not interested in politics. I will vote for the candidate who has promised to triple cash handouts," the father of three in Tehran said, referring to Raisi.
The withdrawal of other conservative candidates turned Friday's election into an unexpectedly tight, two-horse race between Rouhani, 68, and Raisi, a 56-year-old protege of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran's ultimate authority.
Rouhani, a longtime establishment insider and former nuclear negotiator, won the presidency in 2013, bolstered by the support of many Iranians yearning for less repression.
But rights groups say there has been little, if any, move to bring about greater political and cultural freedoms since Rouhani was elected. Hardliners dominating the judiciary and security services have stood in the way, his defenders say.
For the election, Rouhani has pinned his hopes on people who are undecided or do not usually vote. His campaign was boosted by endorsements from influential political and cultural figures to mobilise young people and women to go to the polls.
"Rouhani has skillfully...permitted Iranian youth to repeat what happened in 2013 on a larger scale - namely projecting their wishes onto a candidate who is not a reformist but (still) embraces reformist rhetoric," said Behnam Ben Taleblu, senior Iran analyst at the Foundation for Defence of Democracies (FDD) in Washington.
