Watching the news coverage of the Iranian presidential elections I am getting the impressions that the world, including the Iranians themselves, are starting to believe the notion that there are actually democratic elections in Iran.
The minor details are easily forgotten, such as the, never mentioned, vetting process in place for presidential candidates that excludes anyone who disagrees with the current form of government in Iran. There is also the minor matter of the supreme leader oversight. The Iranian constitution stipulates that all elected officials in the Iran, including the president, are subject to the veto power and guidance of the unelected "supreme leader". The Iranian presidential election could easily be called the "sidekick election" for selecting the sidekick to the supreme leader.
Looking at the presidential candidates over the years the names are starting to look familiar, that because all the candidates are from within the current regime. A select few are simply changing roles within the same government. Their commitment to the regime has already been tested over and over again making the vetting easy.
The news media divides the presidential candidates into conservatives and moderates but they really should be divided into ultra-conservatives and moderate conservatives as any candidate to the left of that never gets past the vetting process.
The Iranian younger generations are made to believe that they are actually electing their government, and worse, that the past failures in Iran are a consequence of their previous votes. Those who are truly responsible are never blamed or punished as they are never elected. They quietly supervise those elected and let them take the blame for the government failures, in the process allowing the public to vent their anger by electing new sidekicks once in a while.
The first election in the Islamic republic was the election to establish the form of government after the 1979 revolution. Even then there was only one choice on the ballet, an Islamic Republic (a theocracy) or nothing. The ballot read "Yes or No to the Islamic republic". That election sat the stage for future elections where Iranians got to choose, provided that government decides what or who can be on the ballet. The People get to vote but only for select posts and from a pool of select people.
Despite all the hoopla the reality in Iran is that Iranian can't even vote for their city mayors or the governors of their provinces as those government posts are deemed too sensitive to be opened to people's vote. The government in Tehran appoints every provincial governor and every city mayor.
In the next few days some Iranians will be celebrating the fake victory of their fake representative government while the real, unelected, government of Iran gets another 4 years of breathing room to rule. They will even throw in an occasional drama of power struggles over some inconsequential post in the government.
The Iranians best hope lies in the remote possibility that one of these so called presidents would have the balls to lead a grass root reform movement that would change the Constitution and get rid of the unelected supreme leadership of the republic--peacefully of course.
The minor details are easily forgotten, such as the, never mentioned, vetting process in place for presidential candidates that excludes anyone who disagrees with the current form of government in Iran. There is also the minor matter of the supreme leader oversight. The Iranian constitution stipulates that all elected officials in the Iran, including the president, are subject to the veto power and guidance of the unelected "supreme leader". The Iranian presidential election could easily be called the "sidekick election" for selecting the sidekick to the supreme leader.
Looking at the presidential candidates over the years the names are starting to look familiar, that because all the candidates are from within the current regime. A select few are simply changing roles within the same government. Their commitment to the regime has already been tested over and over again making the vetting easy.
The news media divides the presidential candidates into conservatives and moderates but they really should be divided into ultra-conservatives and moderate conservatives as any candidate to the left of that never gets past the vetting process.
The Iranian younger generations are made to believe that they are actually electing their government, and worse, that the past failures in Iran are a consequence of their previous votes. Those who are truly responsible are never blamed or punished as they are never elected. They quietly supervise those elected and let them take the blame for the government failures, in the process allowing the public to vent their anger by electing new sidekicks once in a while.
The first election in the Islamic republic was the election to establish the form of government after the 1979 revolution. Even then there was only one choice on the ballet, an Islamic Republic (a theocracy) or nothing. The ballot read "Yes or No to the Islamic republic". That election sat the stage for future elections where Iranians got to choose, provided that government decides what or who can be on the ballet. The People get to vote but only for select posts and from a pool of select people.
Despite all the hoopla the reality in Iran is that Iranian can't even vote for their city mayors or the governors of their provinces as those government posts are deemed too sensitive to be opened to people's vote. The government in Tehran appoints every provincial governor and every city mayor.
In the next few days some Iranians will be celebrating the fake victory of their fake representative government while the real, unelected, government of Iran gets another 4 years of breathing room to rule. They will even throw in an occasional drama of power struggles over some inconsequential post in the government.
The Iranians best hope lies in the remote possibility that one of these so called presidents would have the balls to lead a grass root reform movement that would change the Constitution and get rid of the unelected supreme leadership of the republic--peacefully of course.
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