Middle East News
Ahmadinejad 'again Iranian president with 65 per cent' (2nd Roundup)
Jun 13, 2009, 9:55 GMT
A file picture dated 02 June 2009, shows Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad flashing victory sign to his supporters during an election campaign rally in Tehran, Iran. EPA/ABEDIN TAHERKENAREH
Tehran - Incumbent hardliner Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was re- elected Iranian President after winning some 65 per cent of the vote in Friday's election, the Interior Ministry said Saturday, citing near-complete returns on what it called a record turnout.
The 52-year-old's main challenger, former prime minister Mir- Hossein Moussavi, who had declared himself winner of the election shortly after polling closed, later claimed there had been large- scale irregularities.
On the streets of Tehran and other big cities, Ahmadinejad supporters began joyful celebrations while those of Moussavi defiantly claimed that their man had, in fact won.
Moussavi was stated by the Interior Ministry to have gained 31 per cent of the vote in a country where Ahmadinejad was expected to have benefited from major support in rural areas as well as among poorer sections of city populations.
With the official result of the election yet to be announced, the ministry said turnout had been almost 80 per cent - the highest in Iranian history.
The two other candidates in the poll - conservative Mohsen Rezaei and former parliament speaker Mehdi Karroubi - gained less than 2 and 1 per cent of the votes respectively as the election turned into a two-horse race.
Although the counting had not finished, Ahmadinejad had already achieved an absolute majority by securing more than 18 million of the 35 million votes cast by the total 46 million electorate, compared to Moussavi's 9 million, the ministry said.
However, Moussavi claimed in a press conference on Friday night in Tehran that he was the clear winner, and accused the government of having manipulated both the voting process and the counting.
'I am the definitive winner of the elections and the legitimate president of the people,' he said. 'I have nothing but the support of the people - but with this support I will go to the very end.'
Moussavi and his supporters - the latter having caused a surge of backing for the challenger in a 'green wave' campaign that galvanised campaigning in its late stages - had already claimed mass irregularities during Friday's voting.
The former prime minister had chosen the colour green as his symbol for Islam, hope and change.
Among the claims were that mobile telephone networks used so effectively by pro-Moussavi campaigners had suddenly failed to function, and that Moussavi supporters had been denied access to polling stations to see for themselves that voting was fair.
The Communications Ministry admitted later that there had, indeed, been technical problems.
Officials had kept polling stations open for six hours longer than originally planned as voters turned out in unexpectedly high numbers.
The ILNA news agency reported that even many 'silent voters,' referring to Iranians who had never voted before owing to their opposition to the system, went to the polls this time.
Witnesses confirmed the ILNA report and said that there have been a number of voters at the polls 'whose identity card was totally blank.'
A special election page in the Iranian ID cards is stamped every time a vote is given. Iranians opposing the system say that any stamp in their ID card would mean acknowledgement of the Islamic republic.
Fars news agency reported that in villages, turnout reached record highs of 90 per cent. Turnout was also high in provincial cities.
There are 45,713 polling stations throughout the country and 304 for Iranians abroad, including 32 in the United States.
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Older Talkback
page: 1
that Iran has a functioning democracy.
If had been anything else, President-elect I'm-a-dinner-jacket would have gotten at least 100% of the votes.
Well we tried to scare them in voting for the other guy and we failed.
The reason is clearly due to lack of conviction from our part, we failed to threaten them with the use of nuclear weapons if they would not listen and this is the result.
With Lebanon it was a different story, our message and their recent misfortunes with our puppets in the area scared them enough and we got what we wanted.
The USA, leader of the free world should take the initiative and nuke a few of the disobeying countries and everyone will fall in line, we need and administration with GUTS!
THE FREE WORLD BELONGS TO US!
Yawn! Another unfunny bag of bull from undead lance, now completing the SP trio.
SPthree-and-a-half; the stupid septic surfer brat from Obamaville. Sadly in need of some pointers, preferably white ones.
SPfudd; the neocon hemp fuelled fundamentalist fool who takes his biblical inspirations from the book of Yob. 'The Audacity of Dope'
and now, worst of all,
SPf*ckwit five; vampiric corpse of the dimmest Onanistic turd ever to post here. The pathetic oracle of the porcelain god whose new handle can only refer to the number of Rosie Palm's lovely daughters, his only but constant companions. Remember this, sister? (_*_)
What does it really mean to be a true British?
Does it mean that he who is truly British and not just British is actually proud of the little island called Britain and its people and history?
Is such a person proud of the hundreds of millions of humans that died and suffered under the cruel and inhuman colonial rule of them by these truly British?
Is he proud of the times that they would play cricket in India while millions were literally dying in the streets cause they forced them to plant only tea so the truly British would drink it and sell it and if it wasn’t selling they let them die of starvation? India, which before them was a fully self sufficient economy, rich land and because of them was split into two and impoverished.
Is he proud of the times that they would force the humans of the orient to consume opium and buy opium in order for them to make profit and built palaces in Britain?
Is he proud for the devastation they caused all over the world which many historians estimated that it caused over a few hundreds of millions of excess deaths, only because they had better weapons and no morality to hold them back from using them against less advanced societies?
Is he proud that they have the highest percentage of gays in Europe and probably the world?
Is he proud that they have the highest percentage of teenage pregnancies of Europe?
Is he proud that they were still paying us Americans money that we lend them during WW2 until a couple of years ago?
Is he proud that today they are insignificant and despised around the world, even within the so called United Kingdom, (Lego sized model of true kingdoms).
Why can’t he be just British, or even more importantly just human above all and not truly British?
So it IS the incubus itself! Why lancy-wancy, what a flood of semi-literate tripe. Or is it merely a dose of 'wilful ignorance?' Has someone touched sister on a raw nerve then? I recognised your unique brand of fanatical, blinkered, pre-pubescent, simplistic, maundering pap and complete lack of comedic talent when 'SP5' first began to infest these pages. For you, assumption of an 'SP' tag is actually a big step up.
Avaunt, ye demon of utter mediocrity. Back to your crypt beneath the porcelain god of the shrine of the immaculate misconception. I must once more deploy the only symbol that compells you to drool, shiver and enact the enervating ritual of the rosy palm.
Begone! (_*_) I conjour thee by the unholy 'cross'-ed buttocks of thy own talking botty!
(_*_)
page: 1
FranzJun 13th, 2009 - 11:50:11
Are we going to see front page UK tabloid headlines such as ' How Can Iranians Be So stupid ' ?
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