Iran's presidential election: which political choice ?
Results of Iran's Presidential 'elections' which held
today, Friday the 8th of June are already a forgone
conclusion. The Iranian people are supposed to select
one of the 10 male candidates, accepted by the
religious Guardian Council as suitable 'practising
Shia Muslim menÆ amongst 816 applicants for the job.
Following months of negotiation with the supreme
leader and the conservative faction, Khatami remains
the 'legitimate' and only candidate of both factions
(conservative and reformist) of the Islamic regime and
is unlikely to loose to Fallahian, ex minister of
Intelligence, implicated in serial political murders
or to other unknown 'fundamentalist' candidates.
Most reports from Iran suggest that unlike elections
in 1997, there is little enthusiasm for elections,
while many especially the young express despair and
disillusionment with 4 years of 'reformist' rule which
have not only failed to deliver any 'reforms' but have
coincided with unprecedented levels of corruption,
poverty and destitution. The limited political
freedoms gained in the last few years have been eroded
one by one, newspapers have been closed, student
activists, intellectuals have been arrested and the
promises of political reform have failed to
materialise.
In the week leading to the presidential elections in
Iran, while the attention of the media was mainly on a
lack lustre æelectionæ campaign, the real issues were
ignored : On the 31st of May the inhabitants of Ahvaz
and Khorramshahr took to the streets , demanding
drinking water in an area of Iran where summer
temperatures rise to 50 degrees centigrade. The real
story this week, was the demonstration by women
workers in Jeika factory complaining about job losses
and lack of unemployment insurance. The crucial issue
of 'unpaid wagesÆ was highlighted by Chitsazi workers
who blocked the Tehran-Karaj road last week for the
third time in as many weeks.
The choice facing the Iranian people is not in the
election of one or other defenders of the current
Islamic state. It is not to be found in the farce they
call 'presidential elections' . For most Iranian the
crucial issue is how to pave the way for the overthrow
of the clerical regime, with its backward
segregationist legislations against women. Contrary to
the message of Khatami who calls on the Iranian
people to 'obey the law' and limit reforms to a level
that will not endanger the Islamic regime, such a
battle can only be won through political activism,
civil disobedience, strikes and protests independent
of ruling factions. The re-election of Khatami will
signify no change in the policies and directions of
the fundamentalist regime. The victory of democracy in
Iran depends and is conditional upon the independent
of the anti dictatorial movement from reformists
within and outside the regime. That is why in its
leaflet to the Iranian people the coordinating
committee of Workers Left Unity Iran presents another
choice , that of boycotting these elections,
intensifying popular political protest and paving the
way for the overthrow of the Islamic state.
Co-ordinating Committee of Workers Left Unity- Iran
8th June 2001
http://www.etehadchap.com
email: [log in to unmask]
fax 004631139897 -00448701257959
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http://www.etehadchap.com
Fax 004631 139897 00448701257959
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