A popular slogan in the campaign during the Presidential elections in Iran is "Ahmadi, Bye-bye." Thousands of Iranians hope that there would be big changes in Iran's policies if the moderate Presidential candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi wins on Friday. However, thanks to the political system devised to preserve the hegemony of a handful of clerics over the Parliament and the President, any reform in Iran is bound to be slow and incremental. The upsurge of support for moderate reformist Mir Hossein Mousavi indicates people want change. They want a free media, a more open society, more jobs, end of inflation and an end of isolation. The fight in elections is centred precisely on these issues. Mousavi is for ending the state's control over media by removing the existing ban on the private owership of television stations. He has promised to transfer the control of the security forces from the Supreme Leader to the elected President. He has vowed to review laws that discriminate against women. He says he would disband the moral police. In foreign policy Mousavi wants reduction of tensions to pull the country out of isolation. This includes negotiating with U.S. President Barack Obama if "his actions are in keeping with his words". He believes Ahmadinejad's approach to the issue of Holocaust is inadmissible and he has condemned the killing of Jews in the catastrophe. The younger generation is again in the forefront of the demands for reform as they were in 1997 and 2001 when they twice elected moderate reformist Mohammad Khatemi, who left power without achieving the objective. What heartens one is the electoral energy not seen in years. This leads one to hope a big turnout on the polling day. On Monday, Mousavi voters formed a human chain that ran the entire 15 mile length of Tehran. Young men and women linked themselves together with green ribbon, an audacious behaviour in Iran. The pro-reform groups have weaknesses. Their srtrength lies mainly in big cities while the conservative Ahmadinejad who is running for a secomd term is still strong in areas dominated by ignorance and prejudice including countryside and small towns. It is here that his anti-West rhetoric, his pledges to keep the country loyal to the values of 1979 Isamic Revolution and defend the right to nulear power pull crowds. The deteriorating economy constitutes the vulnerable chink in Ahmadinejad's armour. The inflation had only recetly peaked to 30 pc. Despite the unprcedented rise in petrol prices during his tenure, unemployment has continued to rise. The dscontent with economy which catapulted him into power in 2005, is now Ahmadinejad's bane. There are other social factors also that could turn the tde against Ahmadinejad. The boom in construction industry has been accompanied by skyrocketing prices of real estate putting even a single bedroom room apartmewnt out of the reach of young middle class professionals. Unemployment and real estate prices have given birth to an alarming "marriage crisis": all over the country. By official estimates, there are currently 13 million to 15 million Iranians of marrying age. To keep that figure steady, Iran should be registering about 1.65 million marriages each year. The real figure is closer to half that. Mr Mousavi might win the elections if he can ensure that most of the pro-reform voters turn up on Friday. But will they? They know that even if Mr Mousavi was to be elected, he will have to cope with the hardline clerics who wield control over the state machinery. Important reforms visualized by Mousavi require constitutional amendments. What stands in the way is the stranglehold of the Guardian Council, whose six clerics are handpicked by Ayatollah Khamenei and six Islamic lawyers appointed by the judiciary. The Council is deadly opposed to democratic and social reform. The religious conservatives also control the judiciary and security services. Mr Mousavi hopes to nibble at the power exercised by the clergy through constitutional amendments. As things stand, the Parliament, elected last year is dominated by the conservatives, not because the people want them but because the clerics debar reformists from contesting elections. In January 2004 parliamentary elections clerics disqualified 3,000 candidates, mostly reformists, including dozens of sitting MPs. More than one-third of parliament resigned in protest accusing the clergy of seeking to impose a religious dictatorship like that of the Taliban. Nothing happened. Before last year's parliamentary elections, the conservative clerics once again debarred hundreds of candidates considered a threat to the system. The system is out of cync with times. Thirty years of incumbency have worn out the patience of millions. It remains to be seen if change in Iran will come through ballot or through revolution.