Turnout uneven in Iranian elections

By Nazila Fathi and Graham Bowley
Friday, March 14, 2008

TEHRAN: According to the evidence on the streets of Tehran, opponents of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad turned out in greater numbers than expected to vote for the few reformist candidates in parliamentary elections Friday.

In southern Tehran, where Ahmadinejad has a political base, streets and polling stations were quiet.

In the east of the city, where the president has a residence, people showed up in large numbers, with lines of prospective voters waiting outside the neighborhood's large Al Nabi Mosque.

In the middle-class neighborhoods of central and western Tehran, mosques were crowded as people turned out, and many said they were voting for reformists.

But with most high-profile reformists barred from running by a conservative vetting body, religious conservatives are still expected to tighten their grip on power, and only minor reformist candidates are taking part.

Indeed, the election has largely come down to a contest between conservatives who still support the president and those who have become his opponents.

At a mosque in the western neighborhood of Sadeghieh, 100 people were gathered inside and there was a line of people waiting to vote.

"I am voting because I didn't vote in the two previous elections," said Muhammad Hossein Fozi, 27. "As a result, people I don't like were elected, and their policies have affected my life."

People said they were unhappy about the policies of the government, and in particular cited problems like unemployment. There is much anger over unemployment, inflation and fuel shortages in this oil-rich country and frustration that Ahmadinejad's economic policies have only made the poor poorer and the rich richer.

One supporter of Ahmadinejad, Akbar Moharampour, 52, an architect, said: "I believe those who are in power right now are more concerned about people's situation. I think they have to have another opportunity."

The results of the election are expected to be known by early next week.

Nazila Fathi reported from Tehran and Graham Bowley from New York.