Iranians Vote Absentee in London

By Catherine Cannon

London
12 June 2009

They might be thousands of kilometers from home, but Iranians living in
the United Kingdom are still taking part in their country's
presidential election.

As voters across Iran cast their
ballots in the country's presidential election, many Iranians living in
London wanted to make their voices heard also.  

At the Iranian
consulate, the line to the polls is spilling out on to the street. 
Shirin Saeidi, a student at Cambridge University, joined the crowd. 
She said she is excited about women's participation and wants change in
Iran.  

"What I am supporting is a new vision," said Saeidi. 
"The wife of Mir Hossein Mousavi made a statement. She stated that she
hopes the excitement and the participation of Iranian people in this
election repeats and repeats and repeats for every election. So, I'm
coming for that vision."

Many others waiting in line at the
polls said they are also voting for change in Iran. Of those opposed
to current President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the majority seemed to be in
favor of former prime minister Mir Hossein Mousavi.  

"I
support Mousavi," said a voter. "You know that now, you can see in
media in our country everything has changed, and everybody wants to
vote to change everything. We hope actually."

"I'm going to
vote for Mousavi. It's just because I don't want Ahmadinejad to be our
president again. That's all," said another one.

"I think he can
support Iran and give Iran a bright future," said the other. "If you
look at Tehran now and watch all these videos, there are so many people
just showing their support for him. He has a lot of supporters, both
young and old."

But still others said the current conservative
president is deserving of a second term in office. One man was
confident in his choice.

"Mr. Ahmadenijad. Because his result is good for me and for my country I think. I am sure he is winning," he said.

In
the days leading up to the election, the four presidential hopefuls
have traded insults and accused one another of corruption. Some
Iranians came to the London voting sites in protest of all the
presidential candidates. One man named Tohid joined a group shouting
outside the consulate in support of Iran's communist party. He said he
would not vote in the election because he believes politics in Iran are
corrupt.   

"They are interested to change the previous
president and bring in a new one, but that doesn't have any point,"
said Tohid. "Because the system is ruined.  When the system is ruined,
what's the point of changing the president? I am interested to change
the government completely.  

Whether they were casting their
ballots or shouting in the streets, most of the Iranians at the four
polling stations in London called for some form of change from this
election.

The election results are expected to be announced
Saturday.  But if no candidate wins an outright majority, the two
leaders will face each other in a runoff vote on June 19.