Iran extends voting hours for presidential election

Enthusiasm soars in contest between moderate, hard-liner

May 23, 1997
Web posted at: 1:26 p.m. EDT (1726 GMT)

In this story:

• Khatami hoping for upset
• 'So much excitement ... after so many years'
• False promise?
• Related stories and sites

From Correspondent Christiane Amanpour

TEHRAN, Iran (CNN) -- Because of heavy turnout, voting in Iran was extended for an extra two hours on Friday in a tight four-way election to replace President Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani.

Results were expected over the weekend or perhaps on Monday.

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A L S O Iranians feel at home in U.S.

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If no candidate wins an absolute majority in the first election, a runoff will be held next Friday.

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Just two of the candidates on the ballot were given a chance of winning in Iran's most fiercely contested presidential race since the 1979 Islamic revolution.

Khatami hoping for upset

Iranian analysts and Western diplomats called the race to close to call, but gave the edge to Parliament Speaker Ali Akbar Nateq-Nouri, a conservative hard-liner backed by Iran's clergy-led government.

Mohammad Khatami, a moderate promising more open-minded policies, was hoping for an upset victory. Both are 54-year-old Shi'ite Muslim clerics.

All four candidates were chosen from within Iran's ruling clerical establishment. More than 200 other hopefuls were disqualified because they did not meet the government's religious-based standards.

Separate lines for men and women formed outside voting stations throughout the capital of Tehran and in other major Iranian cities as officials carefully checked people's identity cards.

Khatami's candidacy has excited many of Iran's 33 million eligible voters -- anyone over 15 -- especially women, young people and intellectuals.

Even many in Iran's secular, pre-revolutionary upper class -- who usually boycott elections -- have decided to vote.

But his promises of rights, freedoms and the rule of law spans all social classes.

'So much excitement ... after so many years'

"It's the first time I've seen so much excitement among people after so many years," said one woman as she waited to cast her ballot. "My whole body is trembling."

Young people are "ready to die for him," says a young male Khatami supporter.

Many Iranians say it's a long time since a cleric has been this popular here.

Asked to explain the momentum he's gathered, Khatami gives an answer that is Islamically correct. "The young people love their country and their revolution. God willing, with some many of them eager to participate, we can do many great things."

Half of Iran's population is under the age of 24. Many of those who can afford to are going abroad for better education and job opportunities. Those who remain want those opportunities at home, and many believe Khatami can deliver.

Khatami's false promise?

Not all young people are in Khatami's camp, however. "He is using the young people," says a girl who supports Nateq-Nouri. "(Khatami) promises freedoms, just to attract votes."

Until recently it had been a foregone conclusion that Nateq-Nouri would win. Now, however, he's taking nothing for granted.

"Change is welcome by everyone, bringing new things makes everyone happy," he told reporters. "Therefore, all of us (candidates) have put forth new views."

Believing the conservative clergy will do everything possible to stop a victory by Khatami, some Iranians are fearful of vote rigging.

Public suspicions were so widespread that Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and Rafsanjani assured the nation the election would be fair.

If voting is fair, "we will have hope for the future of Iran," one voter told CNN.

 

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• Reformer, hard-liner in close race for Iran's presidency - May 22, 1997
• Children's paper closed as Iran vote nears - May 21, 1997
• Iranians look for economic help from Friday's election - May 19, 1997

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