Ahmadinejad Wins Iran's Presidential Election with 62% of the Votes

19  Jumada Al-Thani  1430 /  Saturday 13 Jun 2009 / 23 Khordad 1388 a
TEHRNA (FNA)-

The Iranian nation endorsed Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's anti-corruption agenda and elected the Principlist candidate for a second 4-year term in office.

According to Iran's election headquarters, from a total number of 39,165,191 ballots cast in Iran's 10th presidential election on Friday June 12, Ahmadinejad won 24,527,516 votes, which accounts for 62.63% of the votes, while his main rival Mir-Hossein Mousavi could secure only 13,216,411 (33.75%) of the votes.

Principlist politician and former chief commander of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) Mohsen Rezai Mir-Qaed stood third with 678,240 votes (1.73%) and former Iranian Parliament Speaker Mehdi Karroubi came last with 333,635 votes (0.85%) cast in his favor.

The Interior Ministry also said that 409,389 votes have been annulled.

The ministry's election headquarters also put the rate of public participation at 85%.

A number of 45,713 ballot boxes were stationed in 368 cities and 558 districts inside the country while 304 ballot boxes in 32 polling stations gathered the votes of the Iranian expatriates in 130 world countries.

According to presidential election laws, all Iranian nationals above 18 years of age were eligible to vote, meaning that around 46.2 million Iranian citizens could take part in the election.

Ahmadinejad was born into a blacksmith family in 1956 in the southeastern countryside of Tehran. At 19, he began his academic studies at Tehran Industry Technology University.

After graduation, he further went back to the university to brush up his diploma for two inconsecutive times and was finally entitled with PhD of transportation engineering in 1997.

He started his political career as a consultant of the mayor of the southwestern city Shahr-e Kord after leaving university in late 1970's.

During the 1980-1988 war with Iraq, Ahmadinejad spent several years in the armed forces. It is said that he used to work as a secret agent during this period of time, which he denied categorically.

Afterwards, Ahmadinejad was appointed to be mayor of the northwestern city of Maku bordering Turkey.

In late 1990's, he became governor of the northwestern province of Ardabil, a post that brought him the annual honor of "Model Governor" for three consecutive times.

Then, he was elected as Tehran mayor in 2003, and his positive reputation came from the merits of improving the traffic condition and stabilizing prices in the sprawling and polluted capital city.

Due to his family background, Ahmadinejad always leads a simple life. It is said that he often takes home-made lunch to office and lives in an ordinary flat.
Therefore, Ahmadinejad is also enthusiastically supported by people of lower social strata in the country.

The ninth presidential election in Iranian history, took place in two rounds, first on June 17, 2005, the run-off on June 24. It led to the victory of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, with 19.48% of the votes in the first round and 61.69% in the second.

Ahmadinejad is believed to have won the second round because of his populist views, specially those regarding the poor and their economic status.

His reelection is largely believed to be the result of his anti-corruption agenda, his fight for justice, his courage in the international arena and Iran's advancement in different scientific fields, including the nuclear technology, during his first term in office.

Spokesman Calls Iran's Election "Unprecedented"

Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Hassan Qashqavi here Saturday hailed massive public participation in the 10th presidential election, and described it as "unprecedented".

"People's presence in the election was unprecedented, although we had witnessed massive turnouts in previous elections" too, Qashqavi said, stressing that the spirited participation of the Iranians in the election indicated the nation's awareness and responsibility for determining the country's fate.

He further said that the rate of participation of Iranian expatriates in the election has shown a 300% growth, and added, "Such participation took place through the proper measures adopted by the foreign ministry, ambassadors, and consuls abroad."

The spokesman reiterated that a majority of Iranians are always eager to participate in determining their country's fate and that the high rate of public participation in the election vindicated the very same fact.

Voters in Tehran and other cities across the country started casting their ballots at 8 am local time (3:30 GMT) on Friday. Voting lasted 10 hours and polls were supposed to close at 6pm, but massive public turnout made officials extend voting hours.

Iranian Interior Ministry extended voting time for four hours after reports said that a large number of the people nationwide were still standing in long queues to cast their votes.

Meantime, the Guardians Council spokesman announced Saturday that according to the latest figures, over 85% of the Iranian nationals eligible to vote have participated in the country's 10th presidential election.

Presidential Aide: Ahmadinejad to Continue Previous Policies

Iranian president's press advisor Ali-Akbar Javanfekr announced that Ahmadinejad would continue his previous policies after winning the polls in the 10th presidential election.

Following the announcement of early election results by the Interior Ministry which indicated a landslide victory for the incumbent president, Javanfekr said that Ahmadinejad will unveil more "corruption cases" in his second presidential term.

"The fight against economic corruption and illegal enrichment is a general demand and conforms to the principles of the Islamic Revolution," he added.

"The turnout and the vote for Ahmadinejad demonstrates strong support for the way the government has conducted its policies and is a vehement 'no' to our enemies," he went on saying.

Winning the polls "demonstrates the clear support and confidence of Iranians in the Islamic Republic and in the Leader of the Islamic Revolution of Iran (Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei)," Javanfekr told AFP.

The remarks by the presidential aide came before final election results surfaced. According to the final results Ahmadinejad won a majority of votes and was re- elected for a second four-year term.

According to the Iranian Interior Ministry's election headquarters, from a total number of 39,165,191 ballots cast in Iran's 10th presidential election on Friday June 12, Ahmadinejad won 24,527,516 votes, which accounts for 62.63% of the votes, while his main rival Mir-Hossein Mousavi could secure only 13,216,411 (33.75%) of the votes.

Principlist politician and former chief commander of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) Mohsen Rezai Mir-Qaed stood third with 678,240 votes (1.73%) and former Iranian Parliament Speaker Mehdi Karroubi came last with 333,635 votes (0.85%) cast in his favor.

The ministry's election headquarters also put the rate of public participation at 85%.

A number of 45,713 ballot boxes were stationed in 368 cities and 558 districts inside the country while 304 ballot boxes in 32 polling stations gathered the votes of the Iranian expatriates in 130 world countries.

Ahmadinejad Wins Majority of Expats' Votes in Syria, Iraq

The latest election results showed success of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's reelection bid after the incumbent president won a majority of the votes cast by Iranian expatriates' in Syria and Iraq.

According to FNA dispatches, Ahmadinejad could secure 7184 votes against his main reformist rival Mir-Hossein Mousavi who won 2866 votes cast by Iranian expatriates in Syria.

Also in Iraq, Ahmadinejad won 12,636 votes while Mousavi could gain 3,760 of expatriates' votes.

But in Malaysia this was Mir-Hossein Mousavi who could win a majority of the votes cast by the Iranian expatriates in the country. Mousavi defeated his rivals by 4,065 votes, while Ahmadinejad won 430 votes, former Iranian Parliament Speaker Mehdi Karroubi gained 224 votes and Principlist politician and former chief commander of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) Mohsen Rezai Mir-Qaed secured 105 votes.

Head of Iran's Electoral Headquarters Kamran Daneshjoo said that a number of 45,713 ballot boxes were stationed in 368 cities and 558 districts inside the country while 304 ballot boxes in 32 polling stations gathered the votes of the Iranian expatriates in 130 world countries, including the United States, Turkey, Iraq and Saudi Arabia.

Final election results Saturday afternoon revealed that incumbent President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad won a second term in office after securing a majority of votes in the 10th presidential election on Friday.

According to Iran's election headquarters, from a total number of 39,165,191 ballots cast in Iran's 10th presidential election on Friday June 12, Ahmadinejad won 24,527,516 votes, which accounts for 62.63% of the votes, while his main rival Mir-Hossein Mousavi could secure only 13,216,411 (33.75%) of the votes.

Principlist politician and former chief commander of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) Mohsen Rezai Mir-Qaed stood third with 678,240 votes (1.73%) and former Iranian Parliament Speaker Mehdi Karroubi came last with 333,635 votes (0.85%) cast in his favor.

The Interior Ministry also said that 409,389 votes have been annulled.

The ministry's election headquarters also put the rate of public participation at 85%.

Iranian Expatriates in Kuwait Elect Ahmadinejad for Second Term

Most Iranian expatriates in Kuwait cast their votes in the 10th presidential election in favor of incumbent President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

FNA dispatches said that Ahmadinejad won 7,325 votes of the total number of 11,712 ballots cast by Iranian expatriates at 5 polling stations in Kuwait in the Friday election.

His main rival Mir Hossein Mousavi won 3,837 votes, while Principlist politician and former chief commander of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) Mohsen Rezai Mir-Qaed stood third with 471 votes and former Iranian Parliament Speaker Mehdi Karroubi came last with 79 votes cast in his favor.

Meantime, Iranian Interior Minister announced that incumbent President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has won 22,359,018 votes from a total number of 35,424,444 ballots read from boxes inside the country so far.

Head of Iran's Electoral Headquarters Kamran Daneshjoo said that a number of 45,713 ballot boxes were stationed in 368 cities and 558 districts inside the country while 304 ballot boxes in 32 polling stations gathered the votes of the Iranian expatriates in 130 world countries, including the United States, Turkey, Iraq and Saudi Arabia