[R-G] Ahmadi-Nejad Takes to the Streets

[Yoshie Furuhashi]

<http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/d0754e6a-3b68-11de-ba91-00144feabdc0.html>
Ahmadi-Nejad takes to the streets
By Najmeh Bozorgmehr in Karaj
Published: May 8 2009 03:00 | Last updated: May 8 2009 03:00

In his four years as president, Mahmoud AhmadiNejad has made his tours
of provincial cities the centrepiece of attempt to portray himself as
protector of the Iranian people.

The thousands who gathered in the city of Karaj last weekend had the
same demands as the millions who have attended previous events. They
carried letters - to deliver to Mr AhmadiNejad in person - demanding
cash or help with all sorts of other problems, from education to
employment and housing.

What made this event different was the timing. Tomorrow is the final
day for candidates to register for the June 12 presidential elections
and the visit to Karaj, 30kms west of Tehran, had the feel, according
to Mr Ahmadi-Nejad's critics, of an election rally.

The president has yet to register officially but, along with the other
leading candidates, is expected to so by the end of tomorrow.

Rivals argue that such visits so close to the election mean that the
state is essentially funding Mr Ahmadi-Nejad's campaign and his
promises made at such gatherings are an effort to buy votes. In
reaction, state television took the unusual step of not broadcasting
live footage of the Karaj trip.

That will have little impact on supporters such as Farideh, a
58-year-old woman who says she recently met the fundamentalist
president andrecited a poem she had written in praise of Mr
Ahmadi-Nejad's humility. She also sought and received a loan to buy a
new computer.

Farideh says she is a member of the basij , the 10m- strong voluntary
arm of the elite Revolutionary Guards, which had a crucial role in
mobilising people to vote for Mr Ahmadi-Nejad in 2005.

Reformists consider the involvement of the basij - described as the
eyes and ears of the Islamic republic - in the election as illegal,
because the constitution bans military groups from playing any role in
politics. But Farideh insists she has decided to do so as an
individual. "I am proud to say I have set up an election headquarters
in Zone 17 [a poor neighbourhood in Tehran]," she says, adding that
exp-enses are met from the donations of ordinary people.

After meeting the president and securing a 10m-rial loan ($994, €758,
£677) for the computer, she received a cheque in three days. She now
uses that computer to copy CDs of the president's biography "to show
people how simple his lifestyle is and that the dowry of his daughter
was less than an orphan girl".

She says she has also printed campaign banners and will talk to people
to persuade them to re-elect the president.

On a working day in Karaj, most of the thousands attending Mokhaberat
football stadium had financial problems, from expensive housing and
unemployment to such issues as unaffordable treatment for infertility,
or for disabled -children.

"I've heard some organisations in Karaj are not efficient enough to
deal with your problems," Mr Ahmadi-Nejad told the crowd. "Are we
allowed to keep them in the system?" he asked, like a showman. People
shouted "No!" in reply. He promised to remove such officials and to
act for people's welfare.

Many at the gathering credited the president for a recent fall in
housing costs, without linking him to the global financial crisis. He
was also praised for increasing incomes, in particular for retired
people.

Retired government employees have in the past year seen their pensions
increase by an average of 50 per cent, and there is the promise of a
further rise next month. Government workers such as teachers have
already benefited from a jump in salaries and have been told more is
coming.

But these wage rises, which are likely to feature prominently in the
election campaign, come despite high unemployment and with inflation
at 25.4 per cent, leading to fresh criticism of Mr Ahmadi-Nejad's
economic policy. Unofficial opinion polls carried out by different
political groups still suggest Mr AhmadiNejad is ahead of his rivals,
with about 35 per cent of the votes.

But the same polls suggest that Mir-Hossein Moussavi, a leftist former
prime minister, is closing in on the president. Backed by Mohammad
Khatami, the former president, Mr Moussavi is considered the main
reformist rival. That has led analysts to expect a second-round vote,
as no one is likely to secure above 50 per cent of the vote, the
amount needed to win via one round.

"Mr Moussavi is good but we know Mr Ahmadi-Nejad more," says Parivash,
40, another Karaj resident.