Ahmadinejad Vows Impartiality in Upcoming Presidential Race in Iran

Source: 
Fars News Agency
Publication date: 
Feb 11 2017

"I don’t and will not support any one, party or group. It is my decisive and unchangeable stance," Ahmadinejad said in a statement on Saturday.

He dismissed media reports claiming that Ahmadinejad plans to render support for a specific candidate during the May election as rumors, and said, "I clearly declare that such rumors and news are not true and are strongly dismissed even if they are quoted by people with close ties to me."

Iran will hold its next presidential and city council elections in May 2017. This will be the first time that the two elections are to be done on one day.

The Guardian Council, a body of clerics and jurists that oversees elections, said in a letter to the interior ministry in July that it had agreed on a date of May 19 proposed by the ministry.

In October, Interior Minister Abdolreza Rahmani Fazli made the first official announcement about President Hassan Rouhani's bid to win a second term in office in the next year presidential election in Iran.

"Yes, I confirm that President Rouhani will be a candidate in the next presidential election," Rahmani Fazli told FNA.

He said that Iran's election headquarters will launch official work in January 2017, and added, "Enrollment of candidates will take place on April10-14, 2017."

The Iranian interior minister also said in response to a question about the voting method to be used in the next year presidential election that "20 percent of the voting will be done through electronic systems", and the remaining 80 percent will be done manually.

Rahmani Fazli said that election campaigning of the candidates will officially start on April 27-May 16, 2017.

Date: 11/02/2017

Source: http://en.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13951123001419