Thursday, January 17, 2013

Khamenei Unintentionally Triggers Online Interest In 'Free Elections' - Report



Golnaz Esfandiari, editor of Iran blog Persian Letters, writes today that Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei “shot himself in the foot” last week when he called for an end to public demands for free elections, causing a spike in the number of searches for the term "free elections" in Persian on the day he spoke and subsequent days.

This is what Khamenei said on 8 January: “They shouldn't constantly say elections must be free. It's obvious that elections should be free... Since the beginning of the revolution until now, we've had [more than] 30 elections, which one has not been free?” (RFERL)

Khamenei added that raising the issue of free elections plays into the hands of Iran's “enemies.” 

Esfandiari also quotes a journalist in Tehran as saying sarcastically that “the opposition should thank Khamenei for bringing such attention to the need for free elections.”

To read Esfandiari’s post, please click here.

File photo: Election Day in Tehran in 2012. (RFERL)

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

It's "Free" as long as you vote for a puppet of Khamenei's choice.

Mark Pyruz said...

This reminds me of American anti-establishment figures grabbing at every one of President Nixon's wordage during the late 1960s, Those figures were hopeful of instigating a second American revolution. Of course, that didn't happen.

Anonymous said...

What utter rubbish are you talking about man?
Are you comparing the US democratic system with a fascist theocracy?
No sane person buys your garbage.

Anonymous said...

Pyruz, the little lap dog jumps in the air and spins along with the regime 's propaganda and when the laughter rings out thinks that his act is being appreciated rather than realizing that it's derisive.