Tehran. Iran presidential candidates begin final live TV debate. The six candidates contesting Iran’s 12th presidential election face off in their third and final live televised debate.
the debate on Friday, the contestants elaborated on their economic plans and agendas as they campaign for the May vote.
first televised debate saw the aspirants sparring and addressing sundry issues. The second one was much more heated, with candidates aiming directly for each other’s past and present performances.
The debate gathered incumbent President Hassan Rouhani, First Vice President Es’haq Jahangiri, Tehran Mayor Mohammad-Baqer Qalibaf, member of Iran’s Expediency Council Mostafa Aqa-Mirsalim, Seyyed Ebrahim Raeisi, the current custodian of the Holy Shrine of Imam Reza (PBUH) in the northeastern city of Mashhad and former vice president Mostafa Hashemi-Taba.
will go to the polls on May 19 to elect the country’s next president.
Upon entering the headquarters of the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB), the venue of the debate, Qalibaf said the implementation of any economic plan will affect the interests of the “four-percent” minority, a term he has been using throughout his campaigning to refer to the unfair distribution of wealth and opportunities in the country. He also expressed hope that candidates would focus on economic issues in the debate and not digress from the issue at hand.
an interview prior to his participation in the debate, Aqa-Mirsalim said the economic debate would be more important than the two previous televised clashes due to the fact that the major problem of Iranians concerns economic woes, adding that the issue is more acute for the youths.
he showed up for the debate, Raeisi said in the debates, the Iranians want to learns two things; one is the performance of the incumbent administration and the other is the candidates’ agendas. He, too, stressed that the main concern of the people is economic issues. He cited the closure of factories, the impoverished people, workers, villagers and those involved in the production sector as some of the areas of concern.
Also speaking prior to partaking in the debate, Rouhani said Iranian people expect that the candidates set out their backgrounds in economic issues and explain what they have done. He added that the hopefuls must also lay out the resources that they have in mind for the implementation of their economic agendas, how they plan to fund them and how much inflation would be caused.
And the debate begins in earnest with Jahangiri drawn first to answer a question about his plans to fight smuggling and reduce imports. He said the smuggling of commodities undermines domestic production and diverts the course of economy from the right course. He added that the oversight in dealing with the smuggling of goods has dealt severe blows to the country’s economy.
