Controversial candidates register for Iran elections

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, right, and his close ally, Esfandiar Rahim Mashaei, flash victory signs at the start of their press conference after registering the candidacy of Rahim Mashaei for the upcoming presidential election, at the election headquarters of the Interior Ministry, in Tehran, Iran, on Saturday, May 11, 2013 (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)

London, Asharq Al-Awsat—Saturday was the last day of registration for candidates in Iran’s forthcoming presidential election, and proved to be the most eventful with the two most controversial candidates waiting until the last minute to throw their hats into the ring.

Former president Hashemi Rafsanjani and Esfandiar Rahim Meshaei, formerly a close aid to the incumbent Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and currently the head of the Non-Aligned Movement, both filed their paperwork to enter the race at Iran’s Interior Ministry in Tehran, surrounded by dozens of reporters.

However, controversy erupted almost immediately as President Ahmadinejad accompanied Mashaei as he entered the Interior Ministry to register as a candidate, and held a joint press conference with him after the registration process.

It is widely reported that Ahmadinejad is eager to see Mashaei, a long-time confidant, succeed him as president, and the two men have appeared together frequently at public events in an endorsement of Mashaei’s candidacy.

A journalist asked President Ahmadinejad if he was aware that, as president, he was breaking the law by accompanying Mashaei to the ministry. In his response, Ahmadinejad said: “I’m on my holiday, so this is not counted as violation of the law.”

Despite Ahmadinejad’s assertion, the Guardian Council—the body which vets all presidential and parliamentary candidates—did not approve of his gesture. Abbas Ali Kadkhodaei, a spokesman for the Guardian Council, said: “According to a monitoring body of the Guardian Council, President Ahmadinejad’s move in accompanying an applicant for candidacy was against the law.”

“The move was reviewed in the latest session of the Presidential Candidate Registration Monitoring Committee and the majority of the committee voted that it is against the law,” Kadkhodaei said.

“The case was sent to the judicial authorities. From now on, the case is in the hands of judicial authorities and they will make a decision based on the evidence,” he added.

Kadkhodaei also announced that the Guardian Council will make it decision on the applications in five days, and will take another five days for reviewing appeals from rejected applicants. The Guardian Council will announce its final list of approved candidates to the Interior Ministry on May 21.

Iran is also scheduled to hold city and village council elections on the same day as the presidential elections, June 14, and the registration of candidates for this poll has also proven to be controversial in some cases.

One high-profile candidate, Mohsen Hashemi Rafsanjani, the son of former president Rafsanjani, was rejected by the board overseeing local elections this weekend.

He told Fars news agency: “My rejection letter listend two reasons; namely not believing in the ‘Guardianship of the Islamic Jurists’ [velayat-e faqih] and not being committed to the Iranian constitution.”

“I hope this is not a decision making based on personal biases. I will appeal and hope I get an answer,” Hashemi added.