Incumbent President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and challengers Mohsen Rezaii, Mahdi Karroubi, and Mir-Hossein Mousavi are the four presidential candidates whose credentials were approved by the Guardian Council.
President Ahmadinejad and Rezaii, the secretary of the Expediency Council and a former IRGC commander, are from the principlist (conservative) camp, and former Majlis speaker Mahdi Karroubi and former prime minister Mir-Hossein Mousavi are from the reformist camp.
Each presidential contender will face a rival in a series of one-on-one debates.
The debates, which start on June 2 and end on June 8, will be broadcast by IRIB Channel 3 at 10:30 pm local time. The programs will last for 90 minutes.
Following is the schedule for the debates:
Karroubi vs. Rezaii on June 2;
Mousavi vs. Ahmadinejad on June 3;
Mousavi vs. Rezaii on June 4;
Karroubi vs. Ahmadinejad on June 6;
Karroubi vs. Mousavi on June 7;
Ahmadinejad vs. Rezaii on June 8;
Iran’s first one-on-one presidential debates will certainly be the most widely watched TV programs in the country, especially those in which candidates from rival factions face off against each other.
Political analysts believe that the debates will most probably have a great influence on voters.
The debates are expected to focus on a number of issues, such as the inflation rate, monetary policy, unemployment, privatization, foreign policy, the allocations of oil revenues, the dissolution of the Management and Planning Organization, infrastructure projects, social justice, the Fourth Five-Year Development Plan, the 20-Year Outlook Plan, and imports.
MB/PA/HG
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MNA