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| Axis of Evil |
| Showdown for Khatami, but will he or won't he resign? |
| 2002-11-10 |
| His allies are being arrested or condemned to death, and his dramatic bid to revive his stalled reform programme looks set to be shot down by his conservative opponents. We guessed that... And with his popularity flagging, the question on the lips of analysts and diplomats is will Iran's embattled President Mohammad Khatami resign, or accept his lot as a lame duck leader? Now the mild-mannered cleric has tried to seize the initiative, with his allies in parliament presenting twin bills aimed at stopping hardliners from weeding out reformist candidates from standing in elections and enabling the president to challenge judicial rulings deemed to be more political than constitutional. Seen as a last-ditch attempt to rescue his presidency, which ends in 2005, Khatami's allies are now openly threatening a mass walk-out by reformists from the Islamic regime, and the president's resignation. He hasn't resigned yet, has he? But the ayatollahs are trying to force him out, so maybe he will. If his party goes with him, the ayatollahs will likely give the job to Rafsanjani. That might be the catalyst that brings on the collapse, kinda like Ayatollah Khomeini, only in reverse. Picture millions of Iranians in the streets, chanting "We've changed our minds!" The conservative Guardians' Council, which vets all legislation from the reformist parliament, has already signalled the bills will be binned. |
| Posted by:Fred Pruitt |