Iran Focus: Garmsar, Iran, Jun. 24 In this desert town where Irans presidential hopeful Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was born 49 years ago, voting stations were almost deserted as the
local people preferred to spend the holiday by going to the cooler mountainside villages near the town or staying indoors. Iran Focus
Garmsar, Iran, Jun. 24 In this desert town where Irans presidential hopeful Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was born 49 years ago, voting stations were almost deserted as the local people preferred to spend the holiday by going to the cooler mountainside villages near the town or staying indoors.
The Tehran mayor, whose father was a well-known blacksmith in the town, seems to be no favourite son of the impoverished people of Garmsar, which lies on the edge of Dasht-e Kavir, Irans largest desert.
No one interviewed in the quiet streets of the town had any personal recollection of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who left the town as a child to study in Tehran and never returned except for short visits.
Most of the men here commute to Tehran to work as labourers or traders. Many work on construction sites, and a lot of them are unemployed, said Ahmad Sabahi, an unemployed railway engineer. Why should we vote? These men are responsible for our misery. This is not my election.
Except a few older persons who turned up to vote, the vast majority of young and middle-aged inhabitants of this morbid town seemed to share Mr. Sabahis feelings.
Every vote is a stab in the back of Iran, read a large hand-written sign posted near a polling centre near the towns railway station.
Hadi, a 20-year-old taxi driver laughed as he drove past the sign. Thats right, he said. Even a blank vote is a betrayal.
