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| Syria-Lebanon-Iran |
| Iran's Elections Are Magic |
| 2016-03-01 |
| If you are following the Iranian elections, prepare to be dazzled. According to major news outlets from the BBC to the Associated Press, the reformists beat the hardliners. But wait. Didn't Iran's Guardian Council disqualify most of the reformists back in January? Of course it did, but thanks to the magic of Iranian politics, many of yesterday's hardliners are today's reformists. As Saeed Ghasseminejad, an expert on Iranian politics at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, recently said: "Putting a reformist or moderate label on hardliners does not make them reformist or moderate." The headlines, however, tell a different story. The Guardian, for example, says: "Iranian elections deal blow to hardliners as reformists make gains." The BBC concludes: "Reformists win all 30 Tehran seats." And on it goes. Headline writers should be given some slack on this. After all, President Hassan Rouhani -- a moderate, but no reformer -- himself has celebrated the preliminary results in the elections as a major victory. After criticizing the disqualifications, he has held his tongue and tried to make the most of a bad situation, encouraging Iranians to vote nonetheless. The same is true for many of the marginalized reformists. Khatami, who the state has decreed an unmentionable figure for Iranian media, took to the social network Telegram to urge his countrymen to vote. The logic here is that at the very least, voters could protest the most reactionary hardliners in favor of the slightly less reactionary hardliners. This is hardly a victory for democratic change in Iran. And that is what is important for Westerners trying to make sense of Iran's elections. While Iranian politicians have to make the best of a bad hand, we don't. Western journalists and analysts don't need to confer legitimacy on illegitimate elections, nor should we call hardliners "reformists." At the very least, it's important to hold out a higher standard for the day real reformers are allowed to compete fairly for power in Iran. But this is the magic of Iran's elections. In the end, Iran's supreme leader doesn't need to defend their legitimacy. He has plenty in the West eager to do it for him. |
| Posted by:Pappy |
| #3 " ... Because its M-A-A-A-G-I-C"!, as a classic song used to say. |
| Posted by: JosephMendiola 2016-03-01 20:17 |
| #2 It's sort of like the Beltway Party. You elect Trunks who then gleefully pass the Obama-Reid-Pelosi Omnibus funding bill*. You thought you voted for a change in government. |
| Posted by: Procopius2k 2016-03-01 09:45 |
| #1 ...You would think that after, what - thirty seven gorram years now - we'd understand. But we don't. The difference between Iranian moderate and Iranian hardliner is that one is more open about his hatred for us than the other. They will not be happy until they dance on our graves. Mike |
| Posted by: Mike Kozlowski 2016-03-01 05:25 |