Iranians mull tough choice for presidential run-off

TEHRAN - Iranians facing a presidential run-off that will decide the direction of their country weighed on Sunday the difficult choice between pragmatic cleric Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani and a surprise hardline challenger.

The leading reformist newspaper Sharq urged its readers to hold their noses and rally behind Rafsanjani to shut out Tehran mayor Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in next Friday's vote.

It said this was the only way to stop religious hardliners from gaining a monopoly on Iran's ruling institutions.

"We can call him arrogant and criticise his preference for development over democracy," wrote columnist Mohammad Qouchani, but added: "Now we clearly see that Rafsanjani is the only choice left for preserving democracy in Iran."

Though Rafsanjani is no advocate of overhauling a system where ultimate power rests with clerics, he is seen as a counterweight to the hardline anti-Western elite. He has called for a "new chapter" in Iran-US relations.

Ahmadinejad, who has close links with the militant Basij religious militia and Revolutionary Guards, has said re-opening talks with Washington will not solve Iran's ills.

Young Basijis, waving green and black flags, celebrated Ahmadinejad's success late into the night. Chanting slogans, they drove pickup trucks around the Tehran parks where youthful reformists had held wild campaign rallies a few days earlier.

None of the five defeated candidates has publicly endorsed Rafsanjani or Ahmadinejad, neither of whom came close to the 50 percent support needed for outright victory in Friday's vote. Aides to two losing hardliners, Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf and Ali Larijani, said they were weighing their options. Reformists led by Mostafa Moin were to announce their stance on Monday.

While Rafsanjani, 70, has promised to improve ties with the West and preserve social freedoms, his 49-year-old opponent has focused on tackling poverty and maintaining Islamic values.

"My government will support the poor and the deprived. It means we advocate justice, but does not mean we are against others," Ahmadinejad said after confounding opinion polls and stunning reformists by running Rafsanjani a close second.

Their contest could reopen the social rifts in Iran exposed by the closest election since the 1979 Islamic revolution.

Wealthy urbanites backed candidates promising more freedoms and an end to isolation from the West, while the rural and urban pious poor supported those promising jobs and social welfare.

Third-placed reformist cleric Mehdi Karroubi's main campaign pledge was to give everyone over 18 a monthly $NZ88 state handout.

"The election showed how many people in this country are having a hard time financially and care more about the cost of meat than whether Iran makes up with (US President George W) Bush," said a political analyst who declined to be named.

Final figures showed Rafsanjani barely clinched top spot with 21 percent of the vote. Ahmadinejad, who opinion polls had placed well down the field, gained 19.5 percent.

Bush had called the poll unfair because over 1000 hopefuls were barred from running, including all women, but the 63 percent turnout exceeded expectations after a lively campaign.

Rafsanjani's hopes of regaining the post he held from 1989 to 1997 depend heavily on tactical voting by reformists.

Shattered campaign aides of fifth-placed Moin debated feverishly whether they should now endorse a man who for many symbolises a political system they want to change.

"Those who voted for Ahmadinejad are the fruit of Rafsanjani's era of poverty and corruption," said Saeed, 18.

Others said Rafsanjani, who rebranded himself as a liberal in the campaign, was the lesser of two evils.

Iranian Nobel Peace prize winner Shirin Ebadi said she would boycott the second round, just as she had the first.

"As long as they (the clerical establishment) decide for people and tell people whom to vote for by qualifying and disqualifying candidates, I will not vote," she told Reuters.

- REUTERS