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Latest Update: Wednesday10/6/2009June, 2009, 11:07 PM Doha Time Reformists hit the streets in tight Iran vote By Roshanak Taghavi/Tehran Supporters of Mir Hossein Mousavi attending a campaign rally in Tehran Thousands of demonstrators came out onto the streets of Tehran in support of Mir Hossein Mousavi, the reformist former prime minister seeking to challenge incumbent hardliner Mahmoud Ahmadinejad ahead of Iran's presidential elections tomorrow. Men and women, young and old, wearing green - the Mousavi campaign's signature colour - had gathered in squares throughout the capital waving banners and posters for the man they believe is the strongest rival to Ahmadinejad. "Ahmadi bye bye," supporters chanted as Ahmadinejad supporters rode by on their motorcycles. Campaigns by reformist candidates, led by Mousavi, have gathered momentum in recent weeks amid widespread discontent with the president's crackdowns on personal freedoms, inflation-stoking economic policies and failure to turn around the ailing economy. Mousavi and another high-profile reformist challenger to Ahmadinejad, Mehdi Karroubi, a cleric and ex-parliament speaker, have both promised to end morality police patrols and allow for greater freedom of press, artistic expression and dress. They are also advocating a more diplomacy-oriented foreign policy focused on rebuilding relations with the international community, caught up in a standoff with the Islamic republic over its nuclear ambitions. "If we are able to build trust with the West, then it is natural that we can progress," said Mohamed Ali Abtahi, a prominent reformist cleric and close Karroubi ally. "However, we must govern in a way that the Westerners will believe us." The biggest challenge for both Mousavi and Karroubi will be to maximise turnout among a disenchanted middle class to reduce Ahmadinejad's votes to less than 50% and drag the incumbent president into a second round of elections. "Our strategy is ... to have two people that can get specific percentages of the votes so that we can bring Ahmadinejad to a second round. In the second round, we will all unite around whoever reaches it - either Mousavi or Karroubi," Abtahi said. Ahmadinejad still remains popular in this country of more than 70mn - and about 46mn eligible voters - in particular with rural and less affluent voters, who continue to show support for his populist economic policies and a great deal of national enthusiasm for Iran's nuclear energy programme. "We had test missile runs ... he has given us nuclear development. This is a huge development that raised our standing in the world," said 56-year old Nasrin, a retired high-school biology teacher from northern Tehran. "Ahmadinejad has made small mistakes, but in exchange he has made huge progress. So we will overlook these mistakes," she said. Ahmadinejad swept to power in 2005 on a platform of economic justice and oil wealth redistribution that was embraced by the country's lower and middle classes. Since taking office he has pushed on a populist spending campaign that critics say has severely boosted inflation and left the country's budget for the next Iranian year, ending March 20, 2010, with a fiscal deficit of up to $44bn. At the same time, Iran is grappling with a major slump in crude prices since mid-2008, putting the brakes on Ahmadinejad's spending drive during the first three years of his term. A rise in morality patrols throughout large cities and crackdowns on dress, cultural activities and private parties have increased the animosity of young, educated urbanites towards the government. Ahmadinejad has also clashed with many of the country's technocrats, with senior officials frequently being changed throughout various state ministries and institutions. Mousavi's conservative leanings are widely expected to help make tomorrow's elections a tight presidential race. Having declared himself a "reformist principalist", he is viewed as promoting more conservative-leaning foreign policy goals and seeking to make himself palatable to both moderate conservatives and those ideologically lined with the Islamic left, some analysts say. As the election campaign has progressed, he has shifted a large part of his focus to garnering the "undecided" vote in an effort to maximise turnout, particularly in urban regions, the analysts add. At the same time, Ahmadinejad's presidency has witnessed a deep split within the conservative right, leading many of Iran's "old guard" conservative technocrats - concerned about the current government's privatisation policies and abrasive foreign policies - to rally around former Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps, or IRGC, commander Mohsen Rezai as a third candidate for presidency. - Dow Jones Newswires
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