Six days left to the 9th PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION and five days left to the advertisement ban, candidates are at the apex of their drives. The city is filled with posters and billboards that, thanks to DIGITAL print, are more realistic and colorful than ever. Many of these poster reflect images of citizens back to them, only to multiply that of the candidates to infinity. In terms of street and city advertisement, this election is different from what we have been used to.
No doubt images of {Akbar Hashemi} (a.k.a. Rafsanjani) can be seen more than others. The methods that candidates employ seem, without exaggeration, to be "doing everything for votes," and here, too, Hashemi is the seasoned politician and front-runner, with uncanny promotional crusades in every part of the city. His campaign headquarter in Beheshti St hosted a set of musicians playing popular songs. In another, you could get various fruit juices for free. Thousands of happy-go-lucky young drivers have pasted Hashemi bumper stickers all over their cars (perhaps cynically or to have a pretext to run wild with their desires). But one of his slogan, "Someone will come, who knows, who can," baffles me: Where is he coming from? How can this fabulous confidence be explained? Why are aids pasting his posters even on garbage cans?
"I will rebuild you, motherland" is the slogan of {Mostafa Moin}. Of course, it is based on a poem by the famous poetess {Simin Behbahani} and made popular by the Iranian pop singer {Dariush}. From this slogan we infer that the country has been in ruins for the past several decades (centuries, perhaps), and that the reformist-minded Moin is the one to save us from extinction. But given the slow pace of his advertisement campaign and this candidate's lack of charisma, the gargantuan task of 'reconstructing the motherland,' which the Bam Earthquake inaugurated, must find another to do it.
{Mohammadbaqer Qalibaf}'s campaign started earlier than any other candidate. One spring day, the citizenry woke up to green-eyed images of this former police chief that smiled to them and promised a "joyous" future. Qalibaf is using familiar images (painted face football fans), and sometimes ludicrous slogans, to pass himself off as a new brand of politician. In one effective poster we see a smiling seven-year old next to a "Hello, Doctor," slogan. Now, since most seven-year olds are afraid of doctors, Qalibaf must be thinking that his degree in god-knows-what will have a different effect.
Former Revolutionary Guard Commander, {Mohsen Rezai}, is telling us about Dowlat-e Eshq or the Administration of Love, a term which he has borrowed from mystic poets of the past who found love more important than other social concerns. Much like other candidates, Rezai is trying to appeal to young voters and speak to their needs and desires, LOVE being the most important of them. He is also saying that his power is limited to a passion for doing work.
Compared to other candidates, reformist {Mehdi Karrubi}'s campaign is far less elaborate, but in term of slogans he is much the same. "Economic prosperity, social welfare under the auspices of a strong government" are probably things that we didn't have before or that we didn't want, and that now Karrubi is promising it to us.
Conservative candidate {Ali Larijani}'s campaign is also lackluster compared to the three first contenders. His slogan, "Hava-ye Tazeh" or Fresh Air, no doubt fits well with a personality that controlled the state-run radio and television establishment for many years to the chagrin of activists and progressive thinkers. He has borrowed Fresh Air from a poem of {Ahmad Shamloo}, who forgot, at the time, to pair it with "Modern Government." In Lrijani's poster, Modern Government sits next to "Reformation Theology," possibly a by-product of Fresh Air.