Iran's leader touts turnout before most people even vote

Iran's leaders need strong voter turnout more than ever with the country under unprecedented western sanctions and threats of an Israeli attack over its nuclear programme.

A man holds an Iranian flag and picture of Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei as he stands in the line to cast his vote during the parliamentary election Friday in Tehran.

TEHRAN // The polls had barely opened yesterday when Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, prematurely thanked voters for their "massive" turnout in parliamentary elections that were essentially a showdown between rival ruling hardline factions.

The regime has always heralded mass participation in elections - whether real or reported - as proof of its legitimacy.

But Iran's leaders need that endorsement now more than ever with the country under unprecedented western sanctions and threats of an Israeli attack over its nuclear programme.

"Elections are essential to Iran's national security," Ayatollah Khamenei declared as he cast his ballot live on state television. Earlier, he proclaimed that the vote would give "a powerful smack to the face" of the United States and other "enemies".

Some campaign posters in Tehran even warned that a low turnout might encourage foreign powers to launch military strikes.

A robust showing at the polls was guaranteed if only because national identity cards are stamped at the ballot box, ensuring that civil servants and others beholden to the regime for their livelihood voted to avoid getting into trouble.

"I'm trying to get a government job and I can't if I don't vote," said a 26-year-old man who asked not to be named.

At the same polling booth in a Tehran religious-studies school, others were more ideologically committed.

"Like the supreme leader said, today is a big slap in the face of America. I truly hope that one day America will end," said Ashraf, 52, a housewife.

Many analysts said the government would report a turnout of 60 per cent or higher, whatever the true figure.

Expecting genuine enthusiasm from a widely disillusioned electorate was a tall order. Many saw no point in voting after their last ballot was "stolen" in Iran's last nationwide poll in June 2009 which returned President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to power.

Iran's reformist movement was ruthlessly purged from the political hierarchy after its leaders insisted his re-election was rigged, a debacle that ignited the biggest street protests in the history of the Islamic republic.

Iranian streets were crammed yesterday with shoppers preparing for Iran's new year rather voters heading to the ballot box.

The poll offered only a limited choice in a system where candidates for the 290-seat parliament were screened for their loyalty to the Islamic establishment by the Guardian Council, a vetting body controlled by Ayatollah Khamenei.

The lacklustre campaign centred on calls to protect the system while largely ignoring the people's primary concern, the economy. Ordinary households are struggling to combat galloping inflation, rising unemployment and a plunging currency.

Many people The National spoke to said they would, above all else, vote for candidates who could help them make ends meet.

A big turnout was also important for the regime to prove that the opposition Green Movement, which had called for a boycott of the "sham" elections, was a spent force. The movement's two leaders, Mir Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karrubi, who challenged Mr Ahmadinejad for the presidency three years ago, have been under house arrest for the past year.

In the tumultuous summer of 2009, Ayatollah Khamenei endorsed Mr Ahmadinejad's re-election as a "divine assessment". But the two leaders soon fell out after the president tried to give his office more powers.

The crux came last year when he defied the supreme leader's absolute authority in a public spat over a cabinet posting.

Ayatollah Khamenei won the tussle but his allies went on to declare that the president had become "bewitched" by an anticlerical "deviant current" in his camp.

Mr Ahmadinejad has showed no sign of backing down, issuing thinly veiled threats that he knows where the regime's skeletons are buried and will unearth them if cornered.

The Guardian Council is believed to have barred many of Mr Ahmadinejad's followers from running, forcing him to pick younger political unknowns. As a result, some of his supporters called for voters to stay away from the polls; an irony keenly savoured by Iran's battered reformists.

The first results of the election are due today, which will give an early indication of where power lies in the struggle between Iran's ruling conservatives. But it may take weeks for a definitive outcome.

Iran's parliament carries more powers than most elected bodies in the Middle East. It also has powerful committees that can influence the supreme leader's thinking on national security, foreign affairs and the nuclear issue.

Yesterday's vote was also regarded as vital because it could help determine the outcome of the power struggle between the president and supreme leader. And it will shape the political landscape for Iran's presidential elections next year when Mr Ahmadinejad has to step down after his second term in office.