Ali Saidi, the Iranian Supreme Leader’s representative to the Revolutionary Guards, announced that the 11th presidential election will see a race among these four groups: Principalists, supporters of the administration, reformists and executives.
In a speech he gave in Rasht in northern Iran, Saidi said the election represents another part of “the Iranian nation’s great test” in 2013 and he urged the people to demonstrate their full participation in order to defuse “the enemy’s conspiracy to make political crises.”
In his speech on Wednesday April 17, Ayatollah Khamenei’s representative to the IRGC described the election as a race among four groups. The first he named are the Principalists, the conservative factions of the establishment with close ties to Ayatollah Khamenei.
Next were the supporters of the administration, who are linked to Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and his cohorts. This group has separated itself from the conservatives in the past few years after Ahmadinejad got into a number of disputes with the Supreme Leader.
The next two groups were differentiated as reformists and executives, though in the past the two groups were regarded as one.
Furthermore, the reformists have not yet announced their full participation in the election. The reformists were heavily sidelined after the tenth presidential election, and their candidates in that election still remain under house arrest.
Ali Saidi lauded the accomplishments of the Principalists in the past but urged them to show greater unity by presenting the “fittest” candidate with the necessary qualities of “loyal service to the country and the leader, expertise, strong management and health.”
More than 15 candidates can be seen on the principalist list of nominees. The election will take place in June of 2013.
