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NEWS & LETTERS, March 2004Dissaffection behind Iranian election boycottThe conservative clerical oligarchy in Iran achieved a victory in the Feb. 20 elections for parliament, mostly because it was obvious that these were not free elections. About 2,000 candidates were disqualified by the Guardian Council, including 80 incumbent, reformist parliament members. Those who believed in Islamic reform called this election a “historical fiasco” since voters’ choices were limited. The candidates loyal to Iran’s Islamic rulers regained control of parliament and won more than 130 of the first 194 seats declared for the 290-seat assembly. Total turnout was estimated between 40% and 50%. In the capital Tehran only 30% of eligible voters came to the ballot. Though Ayatollah Ali Khamenei ordered people to vote because it is their “Islamic duty,” the turnout was the lowest in 24 years. Some voted only because a voting stamp on identification cards is necessary for travel, education and finding jobs. A week before elections, reformist lawmakers sent a polite but strongly worded five-page letter to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei to complain that this election was neither free nor fair and hurts the image of the Islamic Republic. But any challenge to a ruling by the Supreme Leader is considered “making war on God” and forbidden. Therefore just before the election, judiciary agents searched and closed an office of the main reformist party, the Islamic Participation Front. They also closed the two most prominent reformist newspapers, SHARQ and YAS-E-NOU, which published excerpts of a letter critical of Khamenei. Why did the hardliners decide to go against the reformists now? A TURNING POINT ARRIVES Practically speaking President Khatami’s reforms have come to an end. What was at stake was not people’s freedom but a power struggle which reformers lost, and now the hard line faction dictates to the others in this government. Khatami and the other reformers once claimed that they want to rescue the Islamic regime from religious dictatorship and establish an Islamic democracy. This “Islamic Hegelian” believes that ideas drive history, but forgets or denies that for those ideas to be realized, they need to be taken to the streets and not stay in the mind of the intellectual. Thus poor voters participated in the boycott not because of the reformists' urgings, but because of disillusionment with the Islamic Republic and all factions of the Islamic regime. Last summer’s uprising was a clear indication of the people’s demand for real change and for democracy and freedom. This election also ended the illusion that the Islamic Republic could be reformed from within. During the last few years, some of the reformers realized this, separated themselves from this regime, and demanded a separation between religion and the state. Most people blamed Iran’s economic and political crises on all factions, reformists included. President Khatami failed to deliver promised reforms and his government accomplished little. With 20% unemployment, plans for privatization and attracting foreign investors failed. This reflected the crisis in the world economy but also is rooted in the fact that 80% of the economy is bogged down by inefficient, corrupt, state-run institutions which are a continuation of the Shah’s totalitarian state policy on oil. LABOR STRUGGLES The Iranian people observe that while they are getting poorer day in and day out, the rulers can have everything while claiming to serve the people. This corrupt state is not only anti-women and anti-freedom, but also extremely anti-worker. In January, 1,500 workers in the Nazkhaton copper smelting plants in the village of Khatoon-Abad and the city of Shahr-e Babak (in Kerman province) organized work stoppages and sit-ins. These lasted eight days before the Islamic regime’s special guards from Tehran were deployed to Khatoon-Abad. They attacked the demonstrators by helicopter. Machine guns killed at least four workers and injured 40. The fact is that all factions in the Islamic regime are not going to tolerate struggles against the establishment, and people are aware of that. The people’s disillusionment with the Islamic Republic is a big step toward change. Now support for the next stage of Iranian struggles for freedom and independence is crucial. --Alireza |
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