Early Saturday, Iranian chief justice Ebrahim Raisi won the country’s 13th presidential election, in which over half the voters stayed away after political heavyweights were barred from running.
In August, Raisi will take over from the moderate incumbent Hassan Rouhani.
Who is Ebrahim Raisi?Ebrahim Raisi has served as a prosecutor for a majority of his career.
In 2019, Iranian supreme leader Ali Khamenei named Raisi as chief justice.
This appointment raised human rights concerns on account of his links to the mass execution of political prisoners in 1988 post the Iran-Iraq war.
Amnesty International pointed out that the then-deputy prosecutor of Tehran served as a member of the “death commission”.
Raisi has been identified as one of the four appointed judges responsible for the death sentences of 5,000 prisoners.
Raisi is also under US sanctions for human rights violations.
Au contraire, the 60-year-old has introduced himself as the best individual to battle corruption and tackle Iran’s financial issues.
What does Ebrahim Raisi’s victory mean for Iran and the world?Raisi has vowed to ease unemployment and work after lifting sanctions, especially on oil and shipping, imposed by America back in 2018.
These sanctions are believed to have added to monetary hardship for Iranians.
The 2015 nuclear deal with the P5 (five permanent members of the UN Security Council plus Germany) offered Iran some relief from western sanctions on condition that the country will limit its nuclear production and activities.
But in 2018, former US president Donald Trump stepped off the deal, which led to the re-imposition of sanctions on Iran’s trade business.
The Middle Eastern country retaliated by resuming nuclear operations.
Talks of restoring the nuclear deal are ongoing, with US president Joe Biden reluctant to lift sanctions.
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Was it a fair election?Only a handful of people — out of the hundreds who applied — were approved by election watchdogs.
Part of the reason was the Guardian Council introducing new rules in the candidate selection process, which included barring anyone under the age of 40 and above 75.
Many raised their voices against the new criteria..
I Earlier restrictions included that the president must be a Shiite Muslim, which resulted in the exclusion of many minority groups.
Many believe that the election was designed in favour of Raisi.
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, one of the registrants barred from running, said in a video message, “I do not want to have a part in this sin.” Iranians’ point of view on the electionsA massive number of people restrained themselves from casting their votes — the prime reason being the limited choice of candidates.
Iranians were also disappointed with the way the government handled the economy during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Many, especially the youth, lost trust in the government as many promises were not fulfilled.
Meanwhile, Iran’s ultraconservatives hailed Raisi’s victory, welcoming the 62 per cent win by Iran’s head of judiciary.
“Dawn of a New Era” splashed across the front pages of the country’s conservative publications.