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Iran Elections: Iranian Youth Do not See Change on Horizon |
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Friday, 24 June 2005 |
 EventsTehran, AFP - The United States may see oil and terrorism as
Islamic Iran's main exports, but many young people here will be quick
to disagree.
The Islamic republic, home to some of the most qualified young people
in the Middle East, has been exporting its brain-power at an alarming
rate -- with an estimated 150,000 frustrated graduates taking flight
every year.
And as a joke going around Iranian universities puts it, having a PhD
means you're more than likely to head overseas for a job doing Pizza
Hut delivery.
"It doesn't really matter what your graduation grade is. It makes no
difference what contacts you have. You just cannot find a decent job,"
complained Somayeh, a 25-year-old graduate of industrial design.
Officially, the unemployment rate among graduates stands at around 16
percent. Experts say the real figure is far higher, and caution further
that the figures are also hiding an additional, far larger problem of
underemployment.
Somayeh, for example, eventually found a job as an office secretary.
She is now a prime candidate to join the visa queues outside foreign
embassies, and not the polling stations when they open on June 17 for
Iran's presidential elections.
"For a simple secretary who answers the phone, they pay 800,000 rials
(90 dollars) a month. How can someone raise a family with such a low
salary?" Somayeh said.
The eight candidates bidding for Iran's presidency have all been paying
lip-service to the unemployment issue, but the signs are that few young
people have been convinced that change is on the horizon.
Ali, a depressed graphic designer in his mid-20s had all-but given up
hope of finding a job in Iran. "For a good job with decent pay, it's a
never-ending search," he said glumly, all set to join the
four-million-strong Iranian diaspora spread across the United States,
Canada and Europe. "Now I'm looking for something in Germany or
Australia. It may be totally unrelated to my skills, like packing
boxes, but at least the salary is decent."
The other attraction of heading abroad is greater individual freedoms
-- and this is another factor that leaves young people uninspired by
the forthcoming presidential elections.
The polls will mark the end of the mandate of incumbent President
Mohammad Khatami, who managed to lure voters in 1997 and 2001 but
failed to live up to his promise to shake-up the way the Islamic
republic is run.
"I do not think there will be a large number of people, especially among the youth, who will be voting," said Somayeh.
"For Khatami's first and second election, me and my family rushed out
to vote. But he couldn't solve the problem of unemployment, so what can
the next president do?"
According to Mehdi Sahraian, an economist and professor, the
governmental five-year plans put in place since 1990 have consistently
fallen short when it comes to job creation.
"In the current 2000 to 2005 plan, the annual target for new jobs is
700,000, but the figures are only reaching 350,000," he said.
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