Iran Leaders Urge High Turnout in Elections to Defy International Pressure
By Ladane Nasseri - Feb 29, 2012 11:01 PM GMT+0300
Iran’s leaders are calling for a high turnout in tomorrow’s parliamentary election, the first since a disputed vote in 2009 sparked mass protests, to show solidarity in the face of international sanctions.
The ballot “will be a slap in the face of enemies of the nation,” Supreme Leader
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said on his website yesterday, urging voters to “stand tall and show your determination” by taking part. Parliament Speaker
Ali Larijani last week called the election “a big step to preserve the dignity of the Iranian nation.” Near Tehran’s Tajrish market, a banner reminds the crowds of shoppers that voting is “a customary, religious and national duty.”
The ballot takes place amid threats of military attacks and sanctions that are hurting the economy. The U.S. and European Union are moving to block Iranian oil sales and transactions with its central bank, and the U.S. and
Israel say they haven’t ruled out using force to stop Iran obtaining nuclear weapons. The Islamic republic says its atomic program is peaceful in intent and legitimate under international agreements, while Iranian officials have warned of pre-emptive or retaliatory attacks. The rial has plunged against the dollar.
Absent from tomorrow’s vote is the opposition that challenged President
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in the 2009 presidential election, then took to the streets alleging that his victory was rigged. Dozens were killed and thousands arrested in the ensuing crackdown by security forces.
Green Movement
The leaders of that so-called Green movement, Mir Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karrubi, have been under house arrest for more than a year. Its supporters, who have argued for more press freedom and social liberties at home and a less confrontational stance with western nations, are not competing in tomorrow’s election and many advocate a boycott.
The vote “will serve as an indication of the population’s mood and confidence, or lack thereof, in the political system,” said
Trita Parsi, president of the
National Iranian American Council and author of “A Single Roll of the Dice - Obama’s Diplomacy with
Iran.” Iran’s “political spectrum has shrunk significantly and moved to the right over the past years,” with competition between cliques rather than on the basis of political differences, he said.
Some 48.2 million Iranians are eligible to vote and more than 3,400 candidates have been cleared to compete for the 290 seats in the assembly, known as the Majlis. About one-third of the would-be candidates were barred by the Guardian Council, a body composed of jurists and clerics, which reviews their suitability to participate in the election.
Political Trends
The parliament doesn’t have power over the country’s foreign policy, and the outcome of the race is unlikely to impact Iran’s nuclear policy. Still, it may give an indication of political trends before the presidential vote next year, when Ahmadinejad is not eligible to seek re-election.
“These elections will shape Iranian politics and define which factions remain and which ones become extinct,” said Geneive Abdo, director of the Iran program at the Century Foundation in
Washington. Many supporters of Khamenei “want to make sure that allies of Ahmadinejad are eliminated from politics,” she said.
Khamanei and Ahmadinejad joined forces in 2009 in the face of the challenge from the Green opposition. Iranian officials referred to it as “sedition” and said its leaders were playing into the hands of foreigners plotting for an overthrow of the Islamic regime.
Economic Management
Since then, Ahmadinejad has clashed with his superior, Khamenei, over personnel and policy. In May last year the president stayed away from work for a week after Khamenei overruled him by canceling the resignation of Intelligence Minister Heidar Moslehi.
Opponents of Ahmadinejad have denounced the president’s economic management, charges that intensified after the rial lost half its value on unofficial markets as Iranians rushed to buy foreign currencies to protect their savings from the threat of sanctions.
The critics, who include members of the clergy, have also coined the term “current of deviation” to describe what they say is Ahmadinejad’s challenge to Khamenei’s authority. They say the president and his allies are inclined to celebrate an Iranian identity, as opposed to a purely Islamic one, and are too lenient over women’s Islamic attire, according to Gala Riani, head of Analysis for the Middle-East and North Africa at Control Risks in
London.
Risk of Division
One of the factions contesting tomorrow’s election, the United Principlist Front, is running under a slogan that is implicitly critical of Ahmadinejad: “Spirituality and reason, justice and progress, under the guidance of the Supreme Leadership.” The group, which includes many current parliament members, cites the risk of division among Iran’s conservatives.
Another faction, called the Stability Front, is comprised of clerics including, Ayatollah Mohammad-Taghi Mesbah-Yazdi, who have criticized the response to the 2009 protest movement as not being severe enough, according to a report in weekly magazine Mosalas.
In the end, though, the vote comes down to “a question of power balance,” Riani said. “There isn’t that much difference between Ahmadinejad and those who criticize him.”
