Mashhad (MNA) - Mahdi Abaei Khorasani, the secretary general of the Khorasan branch of the Islamic Iran Participation Party (IIPP), said in Mashhad on Sunday that if the competency of presidential candidate Dr. Mostafa Moin is rejected, the IIPP will seriously protest and will not support the presidential election headquarters of former Majlis speaker Mahdi Karrubi.
Of the older conservative groups, the Society of Combatant Clerics and the Assembly of Researchers and Teachers of the Qom Seminary will support the candidacy of Expediency Council Chairman Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, he added.
He also said that he believes that Ahmad Tavakoli and Mohsen Rezaei are more likely to run in the presidential election than two other conservative candidates, Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf and Mahmud Ahmadi-Nejad.
A massive turnout with the people certain that their votes will be effective is of prime importance in the election, he said in conclusion.
Conservatives to introduce final candidate to prevent confusion: MP
"The conservatives should come to an agreement over one specific candidate to prevent people from becoming confused during the process of the presidential election," MP Mohammad Dehghan said in Mashhad on Sunday.
Dehghan, who is a member of the conservative faction of the Majlis representing Torqabeh and Chenaran, told the Mehr News Agency that the number of conservative candidates is not a negative point but rather indicates the democratic atmosphere prevailing in society and will serve to increase participation in the election.
One of the unusual points of the current election is that the conservative candidates are all unanimous in their resolve to withdraw in favor of the candidate who has the most popular support, he added.
CHRF to hold conference on April 22
Majlis Presiding Board spokesman Mohsen Kouhkan, who is also a member of the Council for Harmonizing Revolutionary Forces (CHRF), said in Tehran on Sunday that the CHRF will be holding a conference on April 22 in order to announce how they would support their candidate.
He told the Mehr News Agency that the measures that have already been taken as well as the measures to be taken in the coming weeks would be studied during the conference.
Efficiency, attention to detail, main criteria for presidential candidate: journalist
Gholamreza Ghalandarian, the managing director of the daily newspaper Qods, said in Mashhad on Sunday that efficiency and attention to detail are the people's main criteria in selecting a presidential candidate.
He stated that due to the lack of consensus among different political groups, they are using public opinion polls to select their final candidate.
In the current situation, people are more concerned about the candidates' performance than their statements and promises, he added.
People's indifference, main problem of political groups: official
The deputy chairman of the Khorasan Clerics Society, Gholam Ali Ghafurian, said in Mashhad on Sunday that the main problem of political groups is people's indifference, which might be caused by the fact that they are frustrated and disappointed by the current political groups.
There are also some differences among the conservatives over the potential Rafsanjani candidacy, he added.
Current conditions favor conservatives: FILF official
Gholamreza Razmi, the secretary of the Khorasan branch of the Followers of Imam and Leadership Front (FILF), said in Mashhad on Sunday that current conditions favor the conservatives, adding that if the final candidates of both political currents were identical, it would foster unity. However, that would be a very idealistic situation, he observed.
© Tehran Times 2005
