Albanian President Bamir Topi, speaking to graduates of NDI’s women political development program, urged women across the country to assert their voices in public affairs.  Albania has one of the lowest percentages of elected women in Europe. They hold only 10 of the 140 seats in Albania’s parliament, and only one of the country’s 65 mayors is a woman.

After more than a year of intensive effort, female activists in the Kurdish region of Iraq have achieved substantial progress in their campaign to secure for women the constitutionally-mandated freedom to travel.

In the history of the Islamic Republic, no incumbent has ever lost in a presidential election. The 2009 election may make history with over 46.2 million eligible voters and record high voter turnout anticipated.

• “Many of the officials in the Rafsanjani government and many of your officials started work with nothing and ended up billionaires…How many of my ministers have become billionaires in the last four years?”
  – President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad during a presidential debate with reformist challenger Mir-Hossein Mousavi

The Iran Election Bulletin is a biweekly publication covering domestic political and election issues in Iran in the lead-up to the June 12 presidential election.

By Kaveh-Cyrus Sanandaji
Middle East Center, St. Antony's College, University of Oxford