Presidential politics in Iran
One of Iranian President Ahmadinejad's rivals is mayor of Tehran. Another has assumed the post of speaker of Iran's parliament.Ahmadinejad rival takes powerful post in Iran
"A powerful rival to Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad became speaker of Iran's parliament today, clearing the way for a potential challenge against the hard-line head of state ahead of 2009 presidential elections...
"His victory over former speaker Gholam-Hossein Hadad-Adel, who rarely challenged Ahmadinejad, suggests hostility to the president among the new batch of mostly conservative lawmakers...
"Many analysts say the differences between Larijani [right] and Ahmadinejad have more to do with style than substance. Larijani, who won his parliamentary seat as a representative of the shrine city of Qom, hails from an elite religious family. Ahmadinejad is a blacksmith's son who fought as a member of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard in the Iran-Iraq war."Iran watchers speak of a conservative anti-Ahmadinejad alliance which includes Larijani and Tehran mayor Mohommad Baqer Qalibaf. Both ran against Ahmadinejad in 2005...
"Though marginalized, the liberal reformist faction in Iran's political elite hopes to gain from any fight within the camp of the conservatives..."
Time magazine earlier reported that Centrists Could Derail Ahmadinejad
"The respectable showing by pragmatic conservatives, and their growing coordination with the reformists... suggests that the country could be poised to move past President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's politics of confrontation. Tehran Mayor Mohammed Qalibaf, a possible Ahmadinejad opponent in next year's presidential election, says a centrist Third Wave is taking shape and it will push a moderate, pragmatic agenda...
"The centrist alliance... is being enouraged by other heavyweights such as former Presidents Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani and Mohammed Khatami, and ex-Speaker Mehdi Karroubi... [I]f it holds, this alliance could prove to be a significant factor in next year's presidential election.
"Another potential presidential contender is Ali Larijani, who captured a Majlis seat with a landslide victory in a district in the holy city of Qom. A pragamtic conservative... as also an unsuccessful hopeful against Ahmadinejad in the 2005 presidential contest. But he indicates that the victories of many pragmatic conservatives as well as some reformists in the parliamentary election have given the centrist Third Wave a boost. 'The extremist people of both currents will be eliminated, and the Majlis will move toward moderation, reason and pragmatism,' he said in the TIME interview..."
See also today's report from the New York Times, Rival to Iran’s President Is Elected Speaker
Labels: Iran, leadership, politics
posted by Ken Wedding @ 7:19 AM
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