Surprise Lead for Reformist Candidate in Low Turnout as Iran Heads to July 5 Run-Off

Under Iranian electoral law, a runoff between the two top candidates is held on the first Friday after the result is announced if neither wins at least 50% plus one vote from all ballots cast, including blank votes.

Neither of the two leaders in Iran‘s snap presidential elections has won outright, making a runoff necessary, the Iranian Interior Ministry said on Saturday.

Of 24.5 million ballots cast, moderate candidate Masoud Pezeshkian, a heart surgeon, had garnered 10.4 million votes, while his hard-line challenger Saeed Jalili had won 9.4 million, according to Mohsen Eslami, an election spokesman.

Parliamentary speaker Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf got 3.3 million, while Shiite cleric Mostafa Pourmohammadi had only something over 206,000 votes.

The Tasnim news agency had already said a runoff election was “very likely” as the country voted for a successor to hard-line President Ebrahim Raisi, who was killed in a helicopter crash in May.

Under Iranian electoral law, a runoff between the two top candidates is held on the first Friday after the result is announced if neither wins at least 50% plus one vote from all ballots cast, including blank votes.

The date thus set for the runoff is July 5.

Widespread dissatisfaction

The vote comes as the clerical establishment faces widespread public discontent over economic hardship and harsh restrictions on political and social freedoms.

However, the Interior Ministry said the turnout for Friday’s vote was historically low, at around 40%, with some analysts saying this indicates that the credibility of the country’s political system has been eroded.

Only six candidates from an initial pool of 80 were approved for the election by the country’s hard-line watchdog body, and two of those subsequently dropped out.

All the candidates pledged to revive the ailing economy, which has been undermined by mismanagement and state corruption, as well as international sanctions that have been reimposed since 2018 after the US withdrew from a 2015 nuclear pact with six world powers.

The vote will have no oversight from internationally recognized monitors.

This article was originally published on DW.

Around 4,300 Indian millionaires expected to migrate this year, many will move to UAE: Report

While India is the fastest-growing economy in the world, it is expected to rank third globally in terms of millionaire migrations, after China and the UK.

New Delhi: Around 4,300 millionaires are expected to migrate from India this year, with a large number of them choosing to reside in UAE after leaving their home country, says a recent report by Henley and Partners, an international investment migration advisory firm.

While India is the fastest-growing economy in the world, it is expected to rank third globally in terms of millionaire migrations, after China and the UK, reported NDTV.

India, which has now surpassed China to become the world’s most populous country, has a net millionaire exodus that is less than 30 per cent of China’s.

The same report had highlighted last year that 5,100 millionaires from India had migrated abroad.

While India loses thousands of millionaires each year, with many migrating to the UAE, concerns over the outflows may well be mitigated as with wealth growth of 85% over the past decade, the country continues to produce far more new high-net-worth individuals than it loses to emigration,” NDTV quoted the report.

In recent times, many Indian private banks are expanding in UAE in wake of the continuous migration of Indian high net worth individuals to the country. Some of the banks and financial institutions which are providing wealth management services for Indian families include the Kotak Mahindra Bank and 360 ONE Wealth, reported NDTV.

The migration of millionaires is a phenomenon that has significant influence on the foreign exchange reserves of a country because these high net worth individuals also move a substantial chunk of their assets while migrating to another country.

The main reasons for migration of millionaires from their home country include tax benefits, safety and financial considerations, retirement prospects, business opportunities and better lifestyle, said the NDTV report.