Rafsanjani Calls Iran's Friday Elections as Most Democratic in World

Rafsanjani Calls Iran's Friday Elections as Most Democratic in World TEHRAN (FNA)- Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, the Expediency Council chairman and former Iranian President who was disqualified from the presidential race by the Guardian Council, praised the Iranian people for their massive turnout in the June 14 voting, saying Iran displayed the most democratic election in the world on Friday. "If the enemies of the Islamic Republic of Iran show an iota of fairness, they should admit that Iran held the most democratic election in the world and they cannot raise any doubt or suspicion about it," Hashemi Rafsanjani said at the beginning of the Expediency Council's meeting in Tehran on Saturday. He appreciated the massive participation of the Iranian people in the Friday presidential election, and said the loyal, wise and pious people of Iran proved that they weren't influenced by the foreign states' dissuasive propaganda and fulfilled their responsibilities. Millions of Iranians on Friday went to the polling centers to vote in the country's 11th presidential and 4th city and village councils elections. Polling stations opened at 8 am (0330 GMT) Friday and were scheduled to close at 6:00 pm (1330 GMT) before the Interior Ministry was made to extend the voting hours for several times due to the large voter turnout. Observers said turnout among the electorate was 75 percent. Polling was heavy since the very beginning. Reports from various media outlets said Friday morning that large numbers of people had queued behind closed doors before polling stations opened. Thousands of additional ballot papers were sent to various Iranian cities after local electoral authorities from different constituencies across the country asked the Interior Ministry to send them more papers due to the unexpectedly large public turnout. Partial vote count is giving Hassan Rouhani a wider lead in the presidential race, Iran's interior minister announced Saturday afternoon.