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| Syria-Lebanon-Iran |
| Iran tightens up on presidential hopefuls |
| 2008-11-10 |
| Iran's Parliament has set new strict limits for people wishing to run for president in the country's upcoming presidential election. "And what are those rules?" "Y'gotta be named Mahmoud." Under the new electoral law, applicants must be aged between 40 and 75 and hold the equivalent of a master's degree. How about an honorary doctorate from Oxford? Will that do? The amendment comes after Interior Minister Ali Kordan failed to win Majlis support in an impeachment session over his forged Oxford University Ph.D degree and was removed from his post. Oops. Guess not. The new law also requires candidates to have already served in a national post such as president, vice-president, minister, judiciary, military or broadcasting official, or as mayor of a major city. Faculty members ranked assistant professor and above, lawyers with more than 10 years' experience, the leaders of recognized political parties, directors and editors of newspapers and private company directors are also eligible to register. The tightening of electoral rules is expected to prevent frivolous candidacies ahead of Iran's presidential election scheduled for June 12, 2009. "Frivolous candidacies" being candidacies by anybody not named Mahmoud? Iran's incumbent President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is also expected to seek a second term. No! Reeeeeally? Former Iranian president Seyyed Mohammad Khatami, Head of the Iranian Expert Assembly's Center for Strategic Research, Hojjatoleslam Hassan Rowhani, and the secretary general of Iran's National Confidence Party Mehdi Karroubi are also among expected candidates in the country's 2009 presidential election. |
| Posted by:Fred |