55 million Iranians are set to elect new leadership this Friday and the poor economy is their #1 issue. That’s almost near the number of Americans that DID NOT VOTE in 2016 general election – PB/TK
Iran Presidential Election: Economy Is Focus as Rouhani Faces Raisi – By
TEHRAN, Iran — Up to 55 million Iranians will vote Friday in a presidential election that pits moderates against religious conservatives and has economic fallout from the American-backed nuclear deal at its heart.
Iran is far from a complete democracy and the president is not the most powerful person in the country. That job falls to 77-year-old Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, an unelected head of state seen as the guardian of the Islamic republic and God’s emissary on Earth.
And not just anyone can become president. Candidates are being strictly vetted. More than 1,600 people put themselves forward, but Iran’s unelected conservative Islamic Guardian Council whittled the list down to just six.
All of those who made the cut are Shiite Muslim men. No woman has ever been chosen.
Iran’s hybrid system — half theocracy, half democracy — leaves it classed as “authoritarian” and ranked 154th out of 167 countries in a global democracy index compiled by the Economist Intelligence Unit.
Continue to nbcnews.com article: http://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/iranian-presidential-election-economy-focus-rouhani-faces-raisi-n759451
