IT revolution downloaded to instil enthusiasm into Iranian election

IRAN: Waves crashing on rocks, children running through forests, galloping horses, mountain villages and gigantic icebergs, …

IRAN: Waves crashing on rocks, children running through forests, galloping horses, mountain villages and gigantic icebergs, all set to a thunderously dramatic score.

No, this is not Iran's latest tourism film but part of conservative candidate Ali Larijani's election campaign.

As former head of state broadcasting, Larijani knows a thing or two about the power of the media. As the competition for the June 17th presidential elections hots up, with powerful former president Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani ahead in the polls, candidates are embracing the multimedia revolution sweeping Iran and adopting US-style tactics.

In his 40-minute CD-rom epic, voters are given an unprecedented peek into Larijani's life as he talks of his childhood, marriage and devotion to Islam. Bolstering his film campaign is a comprehensive website, complete with moving logos and downloadable images. Larijani is not alone - all the main candidates now have their own websites.

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Not to be outdone in the campaigning stakes is former police chief Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf, the second-place contender, according to unofficial polls. Desperate to shake off his reputation as a religious hardliner linked to forced confessions of dissidents and journalists, he has launched a slick operation complete with spin doctors.

His aides say they are closely following British prime minister Tony Blair's campaigning tactics and are selling Qalibaf as the man who can modernise Iran.

His new image: dashing young family man with a PhD who moonlights as an airline pilot. His new slogan: "We are not a nation of camel riders."

But despite these new campaigning methods, unofficial opinion polls suggest that Iranians will not be flocking to the polls. Voter turn-out is expected to be the lowest in the Islamic republic's 26-year history, with growing apathy and disillusionment blamed.

The regime has launched its own campaign to lure Iranians to the ballot. State-run television has commissioned trendy cutting-edge animation companies to make cartoons on the importance of voting.

There's a cartoon for everyone, with fast cars and thumping dance music aimed at Iran's youth - voting age is 15 and half the population is under 25 - to films for farmers, where voting is compared to sowing seeds; just as every seed counts, so does every vote.

To vote or not to vote is the main topic of conversation in Tehran, everywhere from cabs to dinner parties. Many Iranians who voted for reformist President Khatami say they will be boycotting the ballot as he has failed to deliver the social reforms he promised.

"I voted for Khatami twice, and twice he let me down," said Golnaz, a filmmaker. "If enough people boycott, it's a sign to the regime that we are unhappy."

The main reformist candidate, Mustafa Moin, is an outspoken student supporter who has promised the release of political prisoners.

His bid for the presidency, however, has so far been a rocky ride - he was first disbarred from standing by the hardline vetting body, the Guardian Council, and then reinstated after intervention by Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khameni.

He has also enjoyed less coverage in Iran's official media than other front-runners, but there are some who say they will not give up on the reformists.

"Before, at parties there was a real threat we'd get busted and flogged, but since Khatami came to power, that's changed," said Manucher, a graphic designer.

Amid the boycott movement, the apathy and those clinging to reform, the regime can always rely on a solid base of voters to turn up to the polls.

"If the Supreme Leader tells me to vote, I will vote," said Fatima, a member of a student Islamic militia group demonstrating for the right to nuclear power at a rally in downtown Tehran.

"We will show the imperialists and the Zionists that we back our regime," she said, struggling to be heard over the chants of "Death to America".