Election in Iran

The new incumbent is the first non-cleric to have been elected to the post of the president of a country that has been ruled by clerics since the fall of the Shah in 1979. What this win of a religious hard-liner against a twice tested cleric, Rafsanjani, seemingly a liberal, signifies is that the presidency and the parliament are now on the same wave length insofar as foreign and internal policies are concerned since now the conservatives have a monopoly control of all the elected and appointed institutions that govern the country.

The president-elect, whose description varies between a 'Robin Hood' and an 'inveterate' religious extremist, depending on who is looking at him, has promised to address the economic inequality that persists in Iran today. Insofar as the economy is concerned, the promised move to bring in distributive justice to the earning from oil, must come as a welcome pro-poor move, as much as his express intention of dealing severely with corruption. But then there is a fear, unfounded, one hopes, that there may be a clampdown on social freedom, as well as rollback of Khatemi's modest but cautious liberalisation.

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Observers credit him with very little expertise on foreign policy matters. It appears that Ahamadinejad is in no hurry to mend fences with the west particularly the US and has made it quite clear that any development in bilateral relations will be on the principle of sovereign equality, without being dictated to by anybody. The west also fears the worst insofar as Iran's nuclear policy is concerned. The nuclear negotiations have been difficult so far, and these are likely to be more so in future.

We would like to congratulate the new Iranian president hoping for an earnest endeavour on the part of new leadership to lead their nation into the new millennium.