The Theocracy that is Iran holds elections, and ostensibly they are
‘free and fair’ with one man or woman, one vote. However, look under the
surface and the ‘democratic’ face begins too slip.
 |
| The Surviving Candidates |
Ever since the days
of Ayatollah Khomeni, any contest (if there was any at all), has been
between the leading Ayatollah’s candidates, and those who may veer ever
so slightly away from his wishes.
So for example this weeks poll in Iran pits the Ayatollah Ali
Khamenei’s loyalists against what are sometime called ‘moderate’
reformers. Moderates in this instance being relative only against the
religious/social hard-line stances of the ‘Loyalists’. They would not be
classed as ‘moderates’ in the Western concepts of the word (or outside
of BBC Newspeak).
While all six surviving candidates - a lot of the
‘seculars’ or supporters of the outgoing President (the woman consoling
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad), and ex-President Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani were
disqualified by the ruling Guardian Council - are seen as conservatives,
one of them, cleric Hassan Rouhani, has been reaching out to the
reformists in recent days.
His reforming agenda is:
The sudden interest in him is because Mohammad Reza Aref, the only real reformist candidate in the race, suddenly announced that he was withdrawing his candidature – he said it was on the advice of pro-reform ex-President Mohammad Khatami who was backing Hassan Rouhani.
Not too strangely, many of those who bravely tried to protest the nature of reforms in 2009 (and who were badly beaten by the police and religious supporters), have shown a reluctance to brave the streets again …. Especially after the disqualification of Mr Rafsanjani in May, which meant many supporters of the ‘liberal’ movement are divided about whether to bother voting in the election at all.
So in all likelihood a hard-liner will win (even the reformer is hardline), but in any case the un-elected Grand Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and his Guardian Council will continue to rule Iran, regardless of the nature of any regime elected ‘by the people’ … one man one vote, and that man is Grand Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
His reforming agenda is:
- The need to re-engage with the West,
- He has also promised to free political prisoners and
- Called for greater reform of the media (although that can be read many ways).
The sudden interest in him is because Mohammad Reza Aref, the only real reformist candidate in the race, suddenly announced that he was withdrawing his candidature – he said it was on the advice of pro-reform ex-President Mohammad Khatami who was backing Hassan Rouhani.
Not too strangely, many of those who bravely tried to protest the nature of reforms in 2009 (and who were badly beaten by the police and religious supporters), have shown a reluctance to brave the streets again …. Especially after the disqualification of Mr Rafsanjani in May, which meant many supporters of the ‘liberal’ movement are divided about whether to bother voting in the election at all.
So in all likelihood a hard-liner will win (even the reformer is hardline), but in any case the un-elected Grand Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and his Guardian Council will continue to rule Iran, regardless of the nature of any regime elected ‘by the people’ … one man one vote, and that man is Grand Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
No comments:
Post a Comment
All comments are welcomed, or even just thanks if you enjoyed the post. But please make any comment relevant to the post it appears under. Off topic comments will be blocked or removed.
Moderation is on for older posts to stop spamming and comments that are off topic or inappropriate from being posted .... comments are reviewed within 48 hours. I don't block normal comments that are on topic and not inappropriate. Vexatious comments that may cause upset to other commentators, or that are attempting to espouse a particular wider political view, are reviewed before acceptance. But a certain amount of debate around a post topic is accepted, as long as it remains generally on topic and is not an attempt to become sounding board for some other cause.
Final decision on all comments is held by the blog author and is final.
Comments are always monitored for bad or abusive language, and or illegal statements i.e. overtly racist or sexist content. Spam is not tolerated and is removed.
Commentaires ne sont surveillés que pour le mauvais ou abusif langue ou déclarations illégales ie contenu ouvertement raciste ou sexiste. Spam ne est pas toléré et est éliminé.