The 13th presidential elections are held in the Islamic Republic of Iran on June 18. The incumbent President Hassan Rouhani does not participate in the elections, as he has held this post for two consecutive terms. Baku Tribune spoke with a political analyst and editor of the Mehr News Payman Yazdani on this topic.
Presidential elections are taking place in Iran. What are the expectations of the Iranian people from these elections?
One of the most important thing which has generally affected the quality of the entire Iranian people’s livelihood generally and the livelihood of low-income people particularly is the economic situation. So improving the economic situation and livelihood standards are of high importance for Iranian people.
What is the voter turnout in the elections?
At the moment that I am answering these question, the voting process is going on and nobody knows the exact percent of the public turnout in the presidential election. But reports coming from polling stations show that the turnout will be higher than the expectations despite massive efforts made by some anti-Iran Media affiliated with some reactionary regional Kingdoms.
Which of the current candidates has a high chance of winning?
Because of the following reasons I myself believe that Mr. Raeisi from the principlist camp will win the election. Firstly due to his good record as judiciary chief. During his term in the judiciary, he has constantly fought corruption and has paved the way for reviving many factories and industrial units that were the victim of corruption or mismanagement.
Secondly, many people believe that the current poor economic situation and hardship is the result of the incumbent administration’s (reformists’ camp) measures.
Thirdly, the latest polling shows that Mr. Raeisi enjoys more chance than the other candidates to be the winner.
How will the election of a new president affect the relations between Iran and Azerbaijan?
Although changing of administrations does not change the principle of Iran’s foreign policy when a new president comes to power the new energy and hope given to his administration by people’s high turnout in the election can act as divining engine of the country’s foreign policy. I think if Mr. Raeisi from the principalist’s camp wins the election the relations between Iran and Azerbaijan will improve more than ever because the principlists have announced that Iran’s neighbors are their foreign policy priority. Azerbaijan is one of Iran’s most important neighbors with many cultural, historical and religious commonalities and also lots of trade, economic and investments opportunities.
Interview by Emil Samedov
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