Iran Analysis: Presidential Election --- It's About "Management" & The Economy
Monday, May 27, 2013 at 10:22Saeed Jalili explains how he would solve Iran's economic problems as President
With the exclusion of leading politicians, such as former Presidential Hashemi Rafsanjani from the Presidential race, a leading theme in media converage is that the election is now merely a contest of "shades of gray" between supporters of the Supreme Leader.
That headline, while it has an element of truth, is a reduction of the contest and Iran's internal situation for two reasons.
First, the economic issue --- and not nuclear talks with the West or other foreign policy issues --- is likely to be the dominant concern of Iranian voters.
Second, while each of the eight approved candidates can find security in criticism of the Ahmadinejad Government, each has to prove that he will be able to remedy the economic problems --- from rampant inflation to falling production to unemployment to currency difficulties --- that plague the Islamic Republic.