Moderate's re-election a warning for Ahmadinejad

Thursday May 10, 2007
Guardian Unlimited

Tehran’s mayor, Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf, walks on the roof of the municipality
building in the Iranian capital. Photograph: Hasan Sarbakhshian/AP

The mayor of Tehran has been re-elected in a vote seen as a victory for moderate conservatives in Iran and a sign of waning support for the country's hardline president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

Mayor Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf is considered a likely rival to Mr Ahmadinejad in the 2009 presidential election.

"This is an important event. It shows that conservatives are distancing themselves from radicals headed by Ahmadinejad," said Saeed Laylaz, an Iranian political analyst and columnist, yesterday.

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Mr Qalibaf is a conservative who backs the Islamic regime, but also a pragmatist who has stressed efficiency over hardline ideology in running Tehran. The mayor's re-election is regarded as a reflection of pragmatic conservatives' increasing discontent with Mr Ahmadinejad's harsh anti-Western rhetoric and his failure to improve Iran's weak economy.

Tehran city council members were under tremendous pressure from the government not to vote for Mr Qalibaf, who won the backing of eight of the council's 15 members.

Mohsen Mirdamadi, the leader of Iran's largest reformist party, said Mr Ahmadinejad's allies pushed council members to elect any other candidate - even a more liberal one - rather than Mr Qalibaf.

Mr Ahmadinejad was the previous mayor of Tehran and used the high-profile post as a stepping stone to win the presidential election - and political analysts believe he is clearly worried Mr Qalibaf could do the same.

Mr Qalibaf's efforts to modernise Tehran's administration have appealed to Iranians seeking greater efficiency in the city. He has completed construction of expressways and tunnels, improved the subway and expanded green areas and public parks. And he has pushed ahead on the construction of a cinema, even though it is frowned on by hardliners.

Although he supports Iran's clerical leadership, Mr Qalibaf has not pushed an agenda of Islamic rules. Female staff at the Tehran municipality have not been forced to wear the chador, a head-to-toe robe that is the most conservative of Islamic dress.

"Qalibaf's record as Tehran mayor indicates his skill in strategic management, something that has rarely been applied in the capital," said Mohammad Khoshchehreh, a conservative lawmaker who campaigned for Ahmadinejad in 2005 but later became a vocal critic.

Mr Qalibaf, 46, ran in the last presidential election but did not make it to the runoff. However, he could be Mr Ahmadinejad's strongest opponent in the election expected in June 2009.

Former president Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, one of the country's most powerful politicians, lost in 2005 and the 72-year-old may not run again because of his age.

As head of Iran's national police before becoming mayor in 2005, Mr Qalibaf won praise for dealing peacefully with pro-democracy student protests. Unlike his predecessors, he did not put down the demonstrations and restrained hardline vigilantes who are often unleashed against protesters