Rafsanjani’s campaign manager, Esshaq Jahangiri, told
Mehr News Agency today that Ayatollah Rafsanjani will not challenge the
decision of the Guardian Council in barring him from running for president.
“Mr. Hashemi (Rafsanjani) entered the race as a public
servant dictated by the conditions (facing the country). He has always
emphasized and followed the laws and will not challenge the decision of the
Guardian Council’” said Jahangiri. (Mehr
News Agency, 22 May)
As I said before, the Kuseh is now history. Rafsanjani is pushing 80 and barely capable of running a pistachio store let alone a powerful, large, modern oil rich state like Iran. The current field of candidates is very strong and all of them are proven leaders. Brother Hashemi should take a long siesta and enjoy his riches.
ReplyDeleteAyatollah Khamenei, 73 years old, and not in best health since his serious injuries in the bomb attack before he became the leader, is running the country. Ayatollah Khomeini ran the country before him until he was 88 years old. Rafsanjani is 78, not young (!), but not unusual in the Islamic Republic.
DeleteThe Guardian Council did not make the decision based on age. There are absolutely no laws limiting the age of president or supreme leader, and the GC is supposed to make its decision solely based on laws of the country. Whether it's good to have a young president or not is not within the scope of GC's authority. The voters should make that decision, unless there would be an amendment to the constitution limiting president or supreme leader's age (which I am in favor of).
The GC's decision was political. The ultraconservative bloc controlling the body feared Rafsanjani's victory and disqualified him to prevent that eventuality, and in the process made a mockery of the country's electoral system. This decision will come back and haunt them and erode the legitimacy of the next president, even if is a pro-Rafsanjani person like Rouhani is elected.
Its good that Rafsanjani is disqualified on false pretenses. It only serves to show how farcical the Iranian elections are. Even if Rafsanjani was allowed to run, they would falsify the numbers to ensure he has a close defeat. If anyone would care to contest the results you know that the regime will come down on them with full force, so why bother with this poorly written and acted theater.
DeleteVoices from Iran
ReplyDeleteCaller from Bushehr:
"I want to ask the leaders of the Islamic republic, when they bestow so much praise upon the Guardians Council as the biggest source of wisdom and religious inspiration, how come this institution approved the credentials of [Mahmud] Ahmadinejad or [Akbar Hashemi] Rafsanjani or former candidate [Mahdi] Karrubi in the past and later the regime put all kinds of negative labels on these people. So what's the record of the Guardians Council in exercising wisdom?"
WHO'S WHO? The Shortlisted Candidates
Caller from Iran:
"I want to tell you brothers, we are not going to vote. These people are playing a game with us. We are not going to vote. Thanks."
SMS message from Bandar Abbas:
"When four years ago I put my ballot into the box with a lot of hope, they rigged the results. So when they do not respect our vote why should we bother to participate in the elections? Leila from Bandar Abbas"
FLASH ANALYSIS: RFE/RL's Iran and Iraq regional director on what the exclusions say about the regime
SMS from Iran:
"In my opinion whoever votes commits a crime."
SMS from Pakdasht:
"I express condolences to the absolutist regime of the supreme leader for the firm stand of the Iranian people who will refuse to vote in this election! Although the regime will stage some voting scenes by bringing Basijis to polling stations and filming them, God knows that this regime has no real support and base among the people. Arash from Pakdasht"
SMS from Iran:
"I congratulate the people for the rejection of those candidacies [by the Guardians Council]. The regime has ignited the fuse of its downfall."
SMS from Rey City:
"Mr. [Supreme Leader Ali] Khamenei, Can you please one more time explain the meaning of free elections so we can really understand? My candidate was Mr. Rafsanjani, so I am not going take part in the appointment of a president. From Rey City"
SMS from Iran:
"None of those candidates who have been approved have their own free will. They are like puppets under the control of the supreme leader. No matter which one gets elected we should not count on any improvement. Tahere"
Facebook comment from Amir Nezam Mohaqeq in Iran:
"The regime, by keeping 10 percent of the population satisfied -- and these are really uninformed people -- rules over the other 90 percent with ease. It does not shy away from intimidating and silencing the majority. The regime is moving toward absolute dictatorship and has prepared all the means to become another North Korea.
...Intimidation and violence by the Revolutionary Guards, national Internet, sidelining whoever can be a somebody, accepting the sanctions and its insistence on isolating the country resulting in the impoverishment of the people."
Facebook comment from Iran: Mina Zebarjad
"I and my circle of family and friends intended to vote for Rafsanjani, but now we will not vote."
http://www.rferl.org/content/iran-reaction-presidential-election-candidates/24994215.html
VOICES FROM IRAN?
DeleteDo you want to see some sms of a million IRANIANS who are more than willing to vote?-
It is sad that Rafsanjani with his record of killing opposition figures and massive corruption during his previous terms is now considered the savior of Iran. Personally, I am glad that he is not running. This time Khamenei and his lap dogs will be held responsible for the mess and can no longer pass the blame to the president.
ReplyDeleteRafsanjani's decision not to challenge the disqualification helps to shape the political "epic" envisioned by the Supreme Leader, where a majority of Iranians, by their overwhelming participation in the national election, will show their full unity, responsibility and a despise for the West's conspiracies.
ReplyDeleteAlso, Ayatollah Rafsanjani's decision gives a moral lesson to some other people and leaders, that for the good of the country, sacrifices are needed.
A-F
I wish the ultraconservative politicians also agreed with your analysis and were ready for political sacrifice of their own. As is, only the moderate and reformist candidates have been consistently “sacrificed!”
ReplyDeleteThis is a naked power grab by the most conservative elements of the ruling circles. They were sure they would loose to Rafsanjani at the polls, so they “disqualified” him at the Guardian Council. No matter how anyone spins this development, it is as ugly as it looks. It undermines the integrity of the electoral process and if it provides any lessons, it is that whoever has more guns wins.
USKOWI-with due respect
ReplyDeletecan you explain how and why you have suddenly come to love Hashemi after keeping every one guessing on your preferred candidate for long.OR is it the usual custom on your part -thus standing diametrically opposite the regime on anything .
BECAUSE anyone can guess your reactions had the regime endorsed him!.
My comments above are about the electoral process. The GC should have let the people decide. Why were they so afraid? They thought he would beat their favorite candidates and thought better to silence him now than bear four years of his presidency. If you are proud of this process, then the GC is a divine body for you.
DeleteFor Ayatollah Khamenei, the right thing to do is to veto the GC's decision, which he can under the constitution, and let the people decide if they want to have Rafsanjani as their president.