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| Syria-Lebanon-Iran |
| Khatami concedes defeat |
| 2004-03-18 |
| The reformist President Mohammad Khatami of Iran conceded that he had reached the limits of his powers and would be a lame duck head of state until his term ends next year. He said he was withdrawing two bills that sought to limit the power of the ruling conservative hardliners "so that the few powers that the president still has are not eliminated. "I have met with defeat," he said. One of the bills was intended to increase presidential controls in order to limit constitutional violations by the ruling conservatives. The other was intended to stop the Guardian Council, the hardline constitutional watchdog, from determining who could run in elections. In February’s parliamentary poll it barred about 2,500 candidates. Mr Khatami said he would continue in office until his term expires in June next year, but his admission of political impotence marked the formal burial of the reform movement on whose now-shattered dreams he swept to power in 1997. "Since last month’s elections parliament has been in the hands of a majority of hardline conservatives," said a former Khatami supporter. "He has merely admitted what the public have known since his second term in office began in 2001: his defeat by the conservatives." Mr Khatami, who has pursued a policy of appeasement towards the conservative opposition, has consistently excused his lack of progress in introducing reformist laws by insisting that he was powerless to stop hardliners interfering with the country’s democratic process. The president is responsible for enforcing the constitution. But any attempts Mr Khatami has made to prevent hardliners shutting down more than 100 liberal publications, blocking reforms and detaining dozens of pro-reform activists have been ignored. Mr Khatami warned the Guardian Council not to "weaken the system". He said: "People should know that in certain quarters the president is not seen as Iran’s top official after the supreme leader, but merely as a co-ordinator among other institutions." "It’s too late for him to do anything," said a 21-year-old student at Teheran University, once a fervent supporter of the president. "The way he handled the election crisis was awful. If he wanted our support, he should have resigned then and not voted in the [parliamentary] elections." |
| Posted by:Dan Darling |
| #2 Mr Khatami, who has pursued a policy of appeasement towards the conservative opposition, has consistently excused his lack of progress in introducing reformist laws by insisting that he was powerless to stop hardliners interfering with the country’s democratic process. The difference between the reformers and the hardliners is about the same the difference in the shades of black in their hats... |
| Posted by: Pappy 2004-3-18 10:53:00 PM |
| #1 "The way he handled the election crisis was awful. If he wanted our support, he should have resigned then and not voted in the [parliamentary] elections." But of course! Khatami is part of the ruling elite, so he's only going to go as far as he thinks is prudent, which obviously wasn't as far as what the population wanted. No surprise there. |
| Posted by: Bomb-a-rama 2004-3-18 11:19:03 AM |