TEHRAN (AlArabiya.net, Reuters)
The wife of a moderate Iranian presidential candidate dismissed comparisons with America's First Lady Michelle Obama but pledged to play a prominent role improving women's rights in the Islamic Republic.
Zahra Rahnavard has broken new ground in Iranian politics by actively campaigning for her husband, former prime minister Mir Hussein Mousavi, and on Sunday went a step further by summoning journalists to a news conference.
She demanded an apology from President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who questioned her academic qualifications in a televised debate with Mousavi, and said women will win greater influence if her husband is elected on Friday.
" He has envisioned at least two or three ministerial posts for women ... (and) various deputy ministers and ambassadors in addition to advisers and director generals " Zahra Rahnavard "I am not Michelle Obama. I am Zahra Rahnavard," said the 61-year-old grandmother and professor, whose supporters believe she could become a pioneering 'first lady' of Iran. "But I do respect all women activists wherever they are in the world."
Rahnavard said Mousavi would appoint women to senior positions across government, and frequently used the plural "we" when speaking about how his policies would be implemented.
"He has envisioned at least two or three ministerial posts for women ... (and) various deputy ministers and ambassadors in addition to advisers and director generals," she said. |
Ahmadinejad's wife is rarely seen in public She played down a suggestion that conservatives who control Iran's parliament and judiciary might limit her role, and said Mousavi would review the cases of women political prisoners.
"We will reconsider their cases. I can assure you freedom of expression will be a priority," she said, wearing a black chador brightened by a floral-patterned headscarf. Ahmadinejad's wife is rarely seen in public. |
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Main challenger Mousavi is seen as Ahmadinejad's main challenger Mousavi, who served as prime minister during Iran's 1980-88 war with neighboring Iraq, is seen as Ahmadinejad's main challenger. He has accused the president of squandering a surge in oil revenues and advocates better ties with the West, but rejects demands that Tehran halt sensitive nuclear work.
While his long years away from the political stage mean few young voters can remember his premiership, his wife's prominent campaigning has helped keep him in the spotlight and on Sunday she urged wavering voters to back him.
"You should know that if you do not step forward those who spread lies, make cases against others ... waste the country's reserves, who would want women to stay at home and not go to schools or work, will take over ..."If you stay away from the (political) scene, then again this destructive team will come to power."
"Those who raise accusations against me despite the legitimacy of my academic credentials are trying to impede the progress of Iranian women," she said. |
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Young voters " I will vote, but only because I want to see anyone but Ahmadinejad win. He has ruined the country " Student Mina Sedaqati Many young voters are already expected to turn out on Friday to deny Ahmadinejad a second term.
Mousavi and Karroubi's posters adorn the cars of the middle-class youngsters eager to stop Ahmadinejad out of fear he will lead Iran on a collision course with the West and further erode social freedom.
Millions of reform-minded Iranians stayed away from the polls in 2005, disillusioned by how hardliners had stymied former President Mohammad Khatami's liberal initiatives.
Ahmadinejad's political fate may well hang on how many of those jaded voters turn out on June 12 -- if only to thwart him.
"I will vote, but only because I want to see anyone but Ahmadinejad win. He has ruined the country," said Mina Sedaqati, a 25-year-old sociology student at Tehran University, over coffee and doughnuts with friends in northern Tehran. |
Ahmadinejad's political fate may well hang on how many of jaded voters turn out on June 12 More than two-thirds of Iran's 70 million people are aged under 30, making them too young to remember life before the 1979 Islamic revolution that toppled the U.S.-backed Shah.
All four presidential candidates are wooing youthful voters in speeches and campaign messages and have used popular networking and content-sharing sites such as Facebook to target young people.
More than 150,000 Iranians are Facebook members, and young voters make up a huge bloc which helped Khatami win elections in 1997 and 2001. Access to Facebook was blocked for a few days last month, suggesting government concern at its influence.
But Iran's most powerful figure, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has repeatedly praised Ahmadinejad's government and urged people to vote for an anti-Western candidate. |
