“Death to potatoes”

“Death to potatoes”

As the voting gets extended beyond the planned cut off time in Iran’s Presidential election, it is worth noting the campaign slogan adopted by supporters of Mir Hossein Mousavi, the ‘reformist’ candidate who appears to be seriously challenging the incumbent President Mahmoud Ahmedinejad.

“Death to Potatoes” is the chant ringing out at Mousavi’s rallies in the final days of campaigning, a critical reference to tactics employed by Ahmedinejad’s campaign whereby the country’s surplus potato stock has been given away at greatly reduced prices to the rural poor. Critics think it is a blatent attempt to buy votes.

The popular cry at Ahmedinejad rallies is “Death to America”, so the potatoe adaptation is a not so subtle critique of both Ahmedinejad’s policies and rhetoric. By early tomorrow we should have an idea of whether the potatoes worked. Election results will be live on Aljazeera English.