TEHRAN – In the run-up to the election period in May, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani warned against what he described as a “bipolar election” as it causes headaches for the country.

“We must not let the elections create bipolarity as it causes trouble,” the president said in a speech to the election staff in Tehran on Saturday.

Iran will hold presidential as well as city and council elections on May 19, 2017, one month earlier than usual to avoid a coincidence with the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan which starts late in May.

“We already have the experience of the elections turning bipolar,” Rouhani stated, hinting at the 2009 unrest when two of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s rivals claimed massive vote-rigging.

Seduced by rigging claims, thousands of protestors took to the streets in Tehran, objecting to the election results.

Rouhani said massive turnout in the next elections is consequential for the fate and grandeur of Iran in the international arena, Rouhani, inviting the Iranian nation to stage a “competitive and impressive” show.

Insecure regional situation also adds more sensitivity to the event, which is held in a region fraught with violence and feud.

Syria has been at war with numerous terrorist organizations for six years now, Iraq has been fighting ISIS since 2014, Saudi Arabia continues to pound Yemen, and Turkey has been insecure to levels unseen in decades.

Rouhani, who won in a landslide majority of 18.5 million in 2013 in a field of six candidates, is expected to stand as a viable candidate for a second term.

In the international arena, he championed a nuclear deal with six world powers and has been resuming stalled political ties with European countries.

However, questions remain if the administration has managed to renovate a sluggish domestic economy, hit by soaring inflation and raving unemployment bequeathed to him by the previous administrations.

AK/PA