Iran Elections Shadowed by Economic Crisis

An Iranian student walks past election posters at the entrance of Tehran University. (EPA)
An Iranian student walks past election posters at the entrance of Tehran University. (EPA)
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Iran Elections Shadowed by Economic Crisis

An Iranian student walks past election posters at the entrance of Tehran University. (EPA)
An Iranian student walks past election posters at the entrance of Tehran University. (EPA)

Iranians are more worried about their tough living conditions than about picking the right candidate in upcoming elections.

In the minds of many voters, economic hardship is indeed the most burning issue as the country suffers under punishing international sanctions and rapid inflation.

Iranians will head to the polls for legislative and other elections on Friday, and candidates are promising them on campaign posters to “fight corruption” and “fix the economy.”

At Tehran’s storied Grand Bazaar, many shoppers are simply wandering the warren of aisles without buying anything, as prices have skyrocketed in recent years.

Many doubt that a quick solution is in sight -- among them 62-year-old retiree Aliasghari, who told AFP he wished the politicians would “stop the empty slogans.”

“The economic situation is extremely troubling,” said the pensioner walking through the labyrinthine market, who asked not to be fully named as he discussed the sensitive issue.

Citizens “are hearing a lot of fabrications and they have lost their trust in voting,” he said, adding that “none of my family members are willing to take part in the elections.”

Voters are due to pick new members of Iran's 290-seat legislature and the Assembly of Experts, a key body that appoints the country’s supreme leader.

As usual, Tehran's market is crowded with people of all ages and backgrounds in the weeks leading up to Nowruz.

However, they “just look at the prices and stalls without buying anything” because “the economic situation is causing serious worries,” according to Aliasghari.

Experts believe voter turnout could hit its lowest level in 45 years since the republic’s founding.

In the 2020 legislative elections, turnout was 42.57% nationwide, dropping to about 23% in Tehran, the country's largest electoral district with 30 out of 290 parliamentary seats.

Throughout Iran, the tough economic conditions have intensified political dissatisfaction.

A survey by Iranian state TV revealed that over half of Iranians aren't interested in voting, despite calls from top officials, including Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, urging everyone to participate.

But for many in Iran, with a population exceeding 85 million, the big worry is the soaring annual inflation, nearing 50%, along with rising prices and a weak currency.



Bangladesh Protest Leaders Taken from Hospital by Police

People take part in a song march to protest against the indiscriminate killings and mass arrest in Dhaka on July 26, 2024. (AFP)
People take part in a song march to protest against the indiscriminate killings and mass arrest in Dhaka on July 26, 2024. (AFP)
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Bangladesh Protest Leaders Taken from Hospital by Police

People take part in a song march to protest against the indiscriminate killings and mass arrest in Dhaka on July 26, 2024. (AFP)
People take part in a song march to protest against the indiscriminate killings and mass arrest in Dhaka on July 26, 2024. (AFP)

Bangladeshi police detectives on Friday forced the discharge from hospital of three student protest leaders blamed for deadly unrest, taking them to an unknown location, staff told AFP.

Nahid Islam, Asif Mahmud and Abu Baker Majumder are all members of Students Against Discrimination, the group responsible for organizing this month's street rallies against civil service hiring rules.

At least 195 people were killed in the ensuing police crackdown and clashes, according to an AFP count of victims reported by police and hospitals, in some of the worst unrest of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's tenure.

All three were patients at a hospital in the capital Dhaka, and at least two of them said their injuries were caused by torture in earlier police custody.

"They took them from us," Gonoshasthaya hospital supervisor Anwara Begum Lucky told AFP. "The men were from the Detective Branch."

She added that she had not wanted to discharge the student leaders but police had pressured the hospital chief to do so.

Islam's elder sister Fatema Tasnim told AFP from the hospital that six plainclothes detectives had taken all three men.

The trio's student group had suspended fresh protests at the start of this week, saying they had wanted the reform of government job quotas but not "at the expense of so much blood".

The pause was due to expire earlier on Friday but the group had given no indication of its future course of action.

Islam, 26, the chief coordinator of Students Against Discrimination, told AFP from his hospital bed on Monday that he feared for his life.

He said that two days beforehand, a group of people identifying themselves as police detectives blindfolded and handcuffed him and took him to an unknown location.

Islam added that he had come to his senses the following morning on a roadside in Dhaka.

Mahmud earlier told AFP that he had also been detained by police and beaten at the height of last week's unrest.

Three senior police officers in Dhaka all denied that the trio had been taken from the hospital and into custody on Friday.

- Garment tycoon arrested -

Police told AFP on Thursday that they had arrested at least 4,000 people since the unrest began last week, including 2,500 in Dhaka.

On Friday police said they had arrested David Hasanat, the founder and chief executive of one of Bangladesh's biggest garment factory enterprises.

His Viyellatex Group employs more than 15,000 people according to its website, and its annual turnover was estimated at $400 million by the Daily Star newspaper last year.

Dhaka Metropolitan Police inspector Abu Sayed Miah said Hasanat and several others were suspected of financing the "anarchy, arson and vandalism" of last week.

Bangladesh makes around $50 billion in annual export earnings from the textile trade, which services leading global brands including H&M, Gap and others.

Student protests began this month after the reintroduction in June of a scheme reserving more than half of government jobs for certain candidates.

With around 18 million young people in Bangladesh out of work, according to government figures, the move deeply upset graduates facing an acute jobs crisis.

Critics say the quota is used to stack public jobs with loyalists to Hasina's Awami League.

- 'Call to the nation' -

The Supreme Court cut the number of reserved jobs on Sunday but fell short of protesters' demands to scrap the quotas entirely.

Hasina has ruled Bangladesh since 2009 and won her fourth consecutive election in January after a vote without genuine opposition.

Her government is also accused by rights groups of misusing state institutions to entrench its hold on power and stamp out dissent, including the extrajudicial killing of opposition activists.

Hasina continued a tour of government buildings that had been ransacked by protesters, on Friday visiting state broadcaster Bangladesh Television, which was partly set ablaze last week.

"Find those who were involved in this," she said, according to state news agency BSS.

"Cooperate with us to ensure their punishment. I am making this call to the nation."