Final campaign rallies ahead of election

(16 Jun 2005)

PLEASE NOTE VIDEO QUALITY AS INCOMING

1. Wide of street with campaigners handing out election leaflets
2. Mid shot of men on street with campaigner
3. Mid shot of girl crossing road with election poster
4. Street scene
5. SOUNDBITE: (Farsi) Maryam Kazemi, Vox Pop:
"I have many reasons for voting. One could be that my vote has a direct impact on my daily life and the second reason is that I have this feeling that my vote for President Khatami eight years ago helped to change the atmosphere of the country. As a university student I see many changes now which were unlikely to happen before president Khatami was selected by the nation."
6. Wide of campaigners giving leaflets to car drivers
7. Wide of campaign posters on street
8. Wide interior of audience at campaign rally
9. Mid shot of audience
10. Pan of audience waving flowers and banners

++NIGHT SHOTS++
11. Various of street rally, people holding up banners and posters
12. SOUNDBITE: (Farsi) Zohreh Majd, Vox Pop:
"I expect the president to do whatever he says and to bring his words to action, this is what most of the candidates don't do after they are selected by the people."
13. Various of cars at street rally

STORYLINE:

Iranian candidates ended a colourful Western-style campaign on Thursday, just 24 hours before the polls open in a closely fought
race for the presidency.

Candidates are required by law to stop campaigning by Thursday morning, 24 hours before the polls open.

The election will choose a successor to President Khatami, who came to power in 1997.

His attempts to introduce liberal reforms were thwarted by hard-line clerics loyal to supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Khatami is barred by law from seeking a third term.

With seven candidates in the running, Iran's Interior Minister Abdolvahed Mousavi Lari warned on Wednesday that with turnout expected to be as low as 55 percent, the election is wide open.

Former President Hashemi Rafsanjani is leading in the opinion polls.

The top reformist candidate, Mostafa Moin, is second in the polls with former national police chief Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf, one of three hard-line candidates, in third place.

The ruling clerics hope that Friday's vote will consolidate their power.

The Guardian Council, a conservative watchdog body, initially barred reformers from running.

But Khamenei, who has the final say on state matters, forced the council to allow Moin and Vice President Mohsen Mehralizadeh to run.

Mehralizadeh is not considered a serious candidate.

Candidates, particularly Rafsanjani, have resorted to Western-style tactics to win attention.

Young boys and girls, some on roller-skates, have been distributing Rafsanjani posters and sticking his photos on cars.

Rafsanjani, a pragmatist who has fluctuated between reformist and conservative camps, has tried to reach out to the youth in his campaign.

Feeling that conservatives have undermined him, Rafsanjani has reverted to a moderate agenda, saying he will reciprocate any US goodwill gestures, if elected.

Many young women are backing Rafsanjani, fearing that freedoms gained under Khatami will end if a hard-liner wins.

One female student said she believed it was important to vote because the outcome would have a direct impact on her daily life.

"I have this feeling that my vote for President Khatami eight years ago helped to changed the atmosphere of the country, " Maryam Kazemi said.


Moin, a former culture and higher education minister, enjoys wide support among the youth, but his big challenge is to persuade them to vote.




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