Mar 14, 2017

While Iranian conservatives are doing their best to form a coalition ahead of the upcoming May 19 presidential elections, parliament Speaker Ali Larijani has thrown his weight behind moderate President Hassan Rouhani, who is seeking re-election.

During recent months, conservatives have called on most of the prominent conservative figures and parties to put aside their differences and reach a consensus over a single candidate for the elections. Many conservatives say that the presence of more than one candidate will result in Rouhani’s re-election, given that several conservative figures ran for office in the 2013 vote.

Larijani, as one of the conservative figures who has strongly supported Rouhani during his presidency, has gradually distanced himself from the conservative camp, which is now controlled by hard-liners, and he has joined the moderation camp as one of its prominent figures. While some expected Larijani to join the conservative coalition — the Popular Front of Revolutionary Forces, or JAMNA — formed late last year, he did not.

In a press conference March 13, when asked about his coalition with Rouhani, Larijani said, “I’m a comrade of Mr. Rouhani.” He continued, “However, I don’t intend to have any role in the election.”

In response to a question about his decision not to join the conservative coalition, Larijani said, “The Principlists haven’t told me [anything about the coalition]. [However], I thank them because if they had asked [for my presence] I wouldn’t have any time to go there.” In this vein, Behrouz Nemati, a moderate parliament member close to Larijani, said March 12 that the parliament speaker has not joined the conservative coalition, as its members are the same hard-liners who threw shoes at him in Qom in February 2013. Nemati also stated that there is an unwritten coalition between Larijani and Rouhani.