Iran boasts successful democratic transition

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | World | Sat, June 15 2013, 5:06 PM

The Iranian administration praised what it considered a successful democratic transition through its much anticipated presidential elections on Friday, which ran peacefully and recorded a high turnout.

According to a press statement made available to The Jakarta Post on Saturday, the high turnout was a symbol of Iranians’ support for the Islamic republic system that also adopted the values of democracy, represented by vigorous yet heated presidential debates during the campaign period.

Associated Press reported that the first official election returns showed Hasan Rowhani with a strong lead. Out of 826,649 valid votes cast at 1,631 polling stations across the country, 401,949 went to Rohani.
There are six candidates running for the election to replace President Ahmadinejad, who is barred by the constitution from running for a third term.

Votes were made at some 60,000 polling stations nationwide and were simultaneously underway in 96 countries. As many as 51 million eligible Iranian voters were registered to vote in the presidential elections. (hrl/dic)

Selected comments will be published in the Readers’ Forum page of our print newspaper.