Campaigning for Iran’s upcoming presidential vote gets underway as the final list of the qualified contenders is released.
The Constitutional Council, which is in charge of vetting candidates and overseeing elections, says the campaigns will revolve around TV shows, where runners can lay out their plans and take part in debates.
The head of the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB), Abdulali Ali-Asgari, said all provisions are prepared for healthy presidential competitions. Out of more than 590 hopefuls, seven individuals got the Constitutional Council’s approval to run for president.
#BREAKING #Iran named seven candidates for the presidential election, but disqualifies former parliament speaker Ali Larijani. It paves the way for judiciary chief Ebrahim Raisi to be the next president
— Guy Elster (@guyelster) May 25, 2021
The high-profile figures include Judiciary Chief Ebrahim Raeisi, Secretary of the Expediency Council, Mohsen Rezaei, and Central Bank Governor Abdolnasser Hemmati.
Representatives of the candidates who attended the campaigning inaugural program broadcast live by the IRIB say high turnout is more important than who will win the race.
Some of the heavyweight hopefuls, including incumbent vice president, Es’haq Jahangiri and ex-Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani, could not make it through the vetting process and were disqualified by the Constitutional Council.
"The manipulation was so clear that even one of the candidates likely to benefit most, Ebrahim Raisi, the current head of the judiciary, claimed he was trying to persuade the [Guardian] council to rethink." https://t.co/YUkuihvV93@barbaraslavin1 @NegarMortazavi @tparsi
— Nader Hashemi (@naderalihashemi) May 26, 2021
The 13th presidential election will be held on June 18. The campaigning will be ongoing until 24 hours before the Election Day. With the final lineup of the presidential vote is now narrowed down to seven people, the race officially kick-starts.
Although some of the contenders have stronger professional backgrounds, we cannot really tell who holds a better chance to win the top executive post, before all candidates lay out their plans.
This article has been adapted from its original source.