September 13-2013
Mohammad-Baqer Qalibaf was barely re-elected mayor of Tehran Sunday by a closely divided City Council.
Qalibaf was challenged by Mehdi Hashemi, the eldest son of former President Rafsanjani, and the preferred candidate of the Reformists. Hashemi managed the Tehran Metro system for a decade until 2011 and is well known to the City Council members.
In the first vote taken Sunday of the 31 City Council members, the two men each got 15 votes and one ballot was not cast. The City Council then took a second ballot. Qalibaf then got 16 votes and Hashemi 14.
Qalibaf presumably won with the support of someone from the Reformist faction of the City Council, where the Principleists lost their majority in the June elections. At the first meeting of the new Council last Tuesday, long-time chairman Mehdi Chamran, a senior Principleist, lost his post to Reformist Ahmad Masjed-Jamei, who was culture minister under President Khatami. Jamei got 16 votes to 15 for Chamran.
Qalibaf, 52, is a member of the Principleist faction who ran for president in June and came in second to Hassan Rohani with 17 percent of the vote.
Born in Khorasan Rezavi province, Qalibaf joined the Pasdaran just after the revolution at the age of 19 and was a senior officer in his early twenties. In 1998, he was named commander of the air arm of the Pasdaran. Later, he became chief of the national police. He resigned to run for president in 2005.
After Tehran Mayor Mahmud Ahmadi-nejad won that election and left the mayor’s office, Qalibaf was chosen for the post. He is widely respected as a skilled administrator with a non-ideological approach to government.
In remarks after winning re-election, Qalibaf reached out to Hashemi, calling him a personal friend and saying he would call on Hashemi for his help in running the capital.
