Moderate cleric Rohani leading in Iran elections – Interior Minister

Presidential candidate Hassan Rohani casts his ballot during the Iranian presidential election in Tehran June 14, 2013.(Reuters / Yalda Moayeri)

Iran’s presidential elections have yielded preliminary results, with moderate cleric Hassan Rohani running ahead of Tehran’s Mayor Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf by nearly 300,000 votes, and nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili, who is just behind Qalibaf.

The Saturday morning news was reported by the country’s Interior
Minister Mostafa Mohammad Najjar on state television. 

Out of a total of 826,649 votes counted, Rohani showed a clear
lead with 401,949 votes against Qalibaf’s 126,896. Just behind
Qalibaf is Iran’s nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili, with 119,000
votes. 

The turnout on Friday was significant, with Iranians coming out
from Tehran, to desert polling stations, even  to 
nomads’ pastures – where people would wait in line for hours in
the blazing sun.

The final results are still a while away, observers say. The
country of 77 million has more than 50 million eligible voters.
Rohani’s early lead can be explained by his reformist stance,
which appealed to Iran’s liberally-inclined population. Rohani
has stated in the past that as the country’s president, he would
push for reconciliation with the West.

The hardline newspaper Kayhan estimated voter turnout to be
around 75 per cent. In fact, voting had to be prolonged by five
hours to accommodate the big numbers showing up. This is believed
in Iran to be a result of boycotts planned by the liberals having
been cancelled in favor of battling those on the other side of
the political spectrum.

There is a total of six candidates running – with Qalibaf and
Jallili coming in close to each other, in the second and third
positions, behind Rohani by a big margin.

If no candidate gets more than 50.1 per cent of the vote, then a
second round of polls will be held next week to decide.

Ali Akbar Velayati, 67, represents the conservative Islamic
Coalition Party and is said to be Jalili’s main rival in the
race. He used to be minister of foreign affairs and is currently
the foreign affairs advisor to Khamenei. Jalili is said to occupy
the middle ground between conservative and reformist candidates,
with his Front of Islamic Revolution Stability. Jalil has been
Iran’s chief nuclear negotiator since 2007.

The remaining two candidates are closely affiliated with Iran’s
supreme leader, Ayatollah Lhamenei. Of the six, Rohani is
considered to be the only true progressive, wanting to free
political prisoners and rekindle relations with the West.

The last presidential elections of 2009 were marked by a wave of
bitter protesting over a disputed outcome, with President Mahmoud
Ahmadinejad being accused of rigging the election to stay in
power for a second term. He is prevented by law from seeking a
third one.

Despite this, there is an atmosphere of calm on the side of the
ruling clerics, as opposition groups appear to be too fragmented
or intimidated to have a repeat of 2009. Therefore, Rohani’s
victory (and he is the only cleric in the race) is not predicted
to cause a big stir amongst the ruling elite.

Source Article from http://rt.com/news/iran-presidential-elections-results-735/

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