President-elect outlines new vision for Iran
Iran’s President-elect Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said today he seeks to create a “modern, advanced, powerful and Islamic” model for the world.
His taped statement, broadcast on state-run radio, appeared aimed at easing worries that his ultraconservative views would clash with Iran’s attempts to expand its economy and international ties.
Ahmadinejad, however, made no mention of any new policies regarding the social reforms opposed by some of his supporters.
“Let’s convert competition to friendship. We are all a nation and a big family,” he said in apparent reference to the rifts between liberals and hard-liners in Iran that deepened in the campaign for Friday’s runoff election.
“My mission is creating a role model of a modern, advanced, powerful and Islamic society,” he said in the short message broadcast shortly after the announcement of final results sealed his stunning defeat of moderate statesman Ayatollah Hashemi Rafsanjani.
The results, announced on state television, gave Ahmadinejad 61.6% of the vote over Rafsanjani’s 35.9%. The rest of the ballots were deemed invalid.
Nearly 28 million ballots were cast, or more than 59% of Iran’s approximately 47 million eligible voters. In last week’s election, the turnout was close to 63%
The victory gives conservatives control of Iran’s two highest elected offices - the presidency and parliament.
Reformers, who lost control of parliament last year, had swung behind Rafsanjani in yesterday’s vote, hoping to retain some hand in government to preserve the social freedoms of recent years, such as looser dress codes, more mixing between the sexes, and openings to the West.
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