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| In Iran, Khatami wants referendum to settle disquiet |
| 2009-07-21 |
| Former Iranian president Mohammad Khatami proposes a "referendum" on the legitimacy of the government as a means to end the crisis over the recent presidential election. In a meeting on Sunday with family members of the detainees who protested against the result of the presidential vote, Khatami said what happened after the poll had blemished the "Republican and Islamic nature of the establishment", the Iranian Labor News Agency (ILNA) reported. "The only way out of the current situation is to hold a referendum," he said. "If the majority of people accept the situation, we will accept it as well." Elsewhere in the meeting, his comments echoed those of influential cleric and politician Ayatollah Akbar Hashemi-Rafsanjani, who said Friday that officials must move to regain the trust of Iranians whose faith in the establishment was shattered after the poll in June. Officials and the electoral body, the Guardian Council, have dismissed claims by the opposition that the vote, which gave a landslide victory to incumbent President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, was rigged. However, Rafsanjani, a two-time former president -- who heads both the top political arbitration body and the clerical body -- criticized the government for its handling of the "crisis", which, he said, had created "doubt" among the people. He also called for the release of those detained during the post-election developments. On Sunday, Khatami praised Rafsanjani's speech and said the adoption of his perspective and suggestions were necessary in restoring trust. "As Rafsanjani said, public trust should be returned to the society ... We announced from the start that there are legal ways to bring back that trust, but our calls were ignored," the former Reformist president said. "I say again that the only solution is to consider the people's votes and to hold a legal referendum." Iran's Association of Combatant Clerics on Monday touched on Khatami's call for a referendum and endorsed the suggestion, according to ILNA. "As millions of Iranians have lost confidence in the electoral process, the Association of Combatant Clerics insists on the organization of a referendum... by independent bodies," the Reformist group said in a statement on its website. Khatami had called for an independent body, such as the Expediency Council headed by Ayatollah Rafsanjani, to oversee his proposed referendum. President Ahmadinejad, who has hailed the June 12 poll as the "freest and healthiest" election in the world, says defeated candidates and their supporters should forgo their stance and work alongside his government. On Monday, Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei, who has the final say on all matters of the state, warned the country's "elite" to be vigilant when commenting on the political situation. Ayatollah Khamenei urged the political elite to avoid any measure that could play into the hands of those deemed as "enemies of the nation". According to Ayatollah Khamenei, the current developments in Iran are a product of "common political games" pushed by certain political officials who are required to be rational if they want the continued support of the nation. |
| Posted by:Fred |