Khamenei Settles the Presidential Race!
Elias Harfoush Al-Hayat - 31/08/08//
If anyone was expecting Iran's presidential elections next year to be of the kind in which candidates from different movements and with conflicting ideas compete over politics, economy and the management of social affairs, before voters head for the ballot boxes to vote for this or that candidate; and if anyone was expecting such elections from Iran under its current regime, Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei has disappointed them and cut short any chances of such a scenario taking place. Indeed, during a meeting with President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and his government, he asked Ahmadinejad to "work as if you will stay in charge for five years", adding "do not think that this year is your final year" as head of this government. Khamenei also grabbed the opportunity to harshly criticize former governments by saying that Ahmadinejad "has stopped the process of Westernization and secularization that had begun to infiltrate the decision-making process of the country", which some considered to be hinting to Iran's "openness" to the world under Mohammad Khatami.
The words of the highest authority in Iran went without much comment in the Arab press, especially that part of the press known to side with the Iranian Regime or be loyal to its ideology, and without anyone noticing what such a stance signifies. In fact, Khamenei's stance represents no less than a belittlement of all the "values" which the Iranian Revolution claims brought it to power in order to return the power to make decisions to the Iranian people, who had previously been "deprived" of it. The Revolution supposedly came to restore the dignity of the Iranian people and to grant them the weight that they deserve in deciding the way their country is being run.
It is not fair to claim that Iran after the Shah, who was not renowned for his democratic tendency, was always similar to what Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and his gifted student Ahmadinejad are suggesting. Of course, the Iranian revolution ultimately consumed the communists and liberals who opposed it, as well as those who remained loyal to the defunct regime. However, apart from the campaign against a few religious figures, most notably Ayatollah Hossein Montazeri, who had dared to stand up to Khomeini, the Revolution's religious leadership has avoided direct clashes with Iran's imams, as such clashes could provide with further arguments those who accuse the revolution of betraying the people in whose name it claims to have come to power.
However, the current phase, with Ahmadinejad's reaching the presidency with direct support from Khamenei, has witnessed direct conflict with a number of prominent clerics, including Chairman of the Assembly of Experts and Iran's former president Hashemi Rafsanjani, former president Mohammad Khatami, as well as the head of the reformist "Itimad Milli" party and one of the most prominent candidates in the upcoming presidential elections, Mahdi Krobi. They all avoided any direct criticism of Khamenei, regarding the protection he grants Ahmadinejad in issues that are controversial on the domestic level, especially those pertaining to inflation, which has become a daily concern for the average Iranian citizen as it exceeded 26% last year, not to mention the way the nuclear issue is being managed. Their attitudes, however, remained clear in considering that it is Khamenei's protection alone that shields the Iranian president when facing his opponents.
The latest parliamentary elections last spring did not change anything when it comes to decision making, neither with respect to the nuclear issue nor any other, after excluding a large number of reformist candidates, branded "enemies of the revolution". This gives one an idea of the meaning of single-color consultation offered by Iran's "Consultative Assembly" in the framework of this regime! Similarly, the next presidential elections are not expected to change much, despite rising domestic tensions. Additionally, Khamenei's recent statements reassured Ahmadinejad about the futility of the presidential race and confirmed the Supreme Leader's disdain for the size of domestic opposition, whether from politicians or clerics.
In any case, this is an example of the "plurality" the Iranian revolution promises its society, as Iran's allies and followers promise theirs!
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