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Frank Gallagher

Mousavi running a novel campaign - The National Newspaper - 0 views

  • Mr Mousavi applied to authorities for his own newspaper licence after his self-nomination in March, but he has yet not been awarded one.
  • At 25 rials (one fils) per copy, Andishe Nou costs much less than the cheapest newspaper in circulation. State-sponsored papers cost about 500 rials while privately produced publications can cost up to 5,000 rials.
    • Frank Gallagher
       
      I wonder what the total cost would be, and whether other candidates would be able to afford it. Campaign budgets in Iran? No idea.
  • Despite his new methods, Mr Mousavi’s campaign mainly relies on support from ordinary individuals and does not have a big campaign operation.
    • Frank Gallagher
       
      If true, it's odd that he's gone for participation alone rather than combining it with the kind of big operation he can supposedly afford.
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    Interesting notes on Musavi's election campaign. Low-key, emphasis on popular participation, and publishing a cheap 1-sheet newspaper without a license.
Frank Gallagher

Gary Sick calls events last night a 'political coup' - 0 views

  • On the basis of what we know so far, here is the sequence of events starting on the afternoon of election day, Friday, June 12. Near closing time of the polls, mobile text messaging was turned off nationwide Security forces poured out into the streets in large numbers The Ministry of Interior (election headquarters) was surrounded by concrete barriers and armed men National television began broadcasting pre-recorded messages calling for everyone to unite behind the winner The Mousavi campaign was informed officially that they had won the election, which perhaps served to temporarily lull  them into complacency But then the Ministry of Interior announced a landslide victory for Ahmadinejad Unlike previous elections, there was no breakdown of the vote by province, which would have provided a way of judging its credibility The voting patterns announced by the government were identical in all parts of the country, an impossibility (also see the comments of Juan Cole at the title link) Less than 24 hours later, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamene`i  publicly announced his congratulations to the winner, apparently confirming that the process was complete and irrevocable, contrary to constitutional requirements Shortly thereafter, all mobile phones, Facebook, and other social networks were blocked, as well as major foreign news sources.
  • The willingness of the regime simply to ignore reality and fabricate election results without the slightest effort to conceal the fraud represents a historic shift in Iran’s Islamic revolution. All previous leaders at least paid lip service to the voice of the Iranian people. This suggests that Iran’s leaders are aware of the fact that they have lost credibility in the eyes of many (most?) of their countrymen, so they are dispensing with even the pretense of popular legitimacy in favor of raw power. The Iranian opposition, which includes some very powerful individuals and institutions, has an agonizing decision to make. If they are intimidated and silenced by the show of force (as they have been in the past), they will lose all credibility in the future with even their most devoted followers. But if they choose to confront their ruthless colleagues forcefully, not only is it likely to be messy but it could risk running out of control and potentially bring down the entire existing power structure, of which they are participants and beneficiaries.
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    Sick is a very senior US academic (Columbia University) and policy advisor. Notes that Mousavi was given an official message that he had won, perhaps intended to forestall any plan by DTV, PMOI and Participation Front to get out on the streets in an organised manner.
Frank Gallagher

FT - Reformers arrested in Iran clampdown - 0 views

  • Dozens of reformist political leaders were arrested on Saturday night in Iran
  • Also arrested were Mohsen Mirdamadi, leader of the Iran Islamic Participation Front, the largest reformist party; Zahra Mojaradi, his wife; Saeed Shariati, a member of the party; Abdollah Ramezanzadeh, spokesman in the previous reformist government; and Ahmad Zaidabadi, a senior reformist journalist.Mostafa Tajzadeh and Behzad Nabavi of the Islamic Revolution Mojahedin Organisation, another reformist party, were also taken into custody.
  • Also arrested were Mohsen Mirdamadi, leader of the Iran Islamic Participation Front, the largest reformist party; Zahra Mojaradi, his wife; Saeed Shariati, a member of the party; Abdollah Ramezanzadeh, spokesman in the previous reformist government; and Ahmad Zaidabadi, a senior reformist journalist.
Frank Gallagher

Excellent Review of the Campaign and the Elections- MERO (via Zmag - 0 views

  • The morning after Iran's June 12 presidential election, Iranians booted up their computers to find Fars News, the online mouthpiece of the Islamic Republic's security apparatus, heralding the dawn of a "third revolution." Many an ordinary Iranian, and many a Western pundit, had already adopted such dramatic language to describe the burgeoning street demonstrations against the declaration by the Ministry of Interior that Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the sitting president, had received 64 percent of the vote to 34 percent for his main challenger, Mir Hossein Mousavi. But the editors of Fars News were referring neither to the protests, as were the people in the streets, nor to the prospect that the unrest might topple the Islamic Republic, as were some of the more wistful commentators. Rather, the editors were labeling the radical realignment of Iranian politics that they wish for. This realignment would complete the removal of the old guard, as did the "first" revolution of 1978-1979, and consolidate the rule of inflexible hardliners, as did the "second revolution" symbolized by the US Embassy takeover of 1979.
  • The number of deeply conservative voters, of the sort who back Ahmadinejad, has not exceeded 12 percent of the electorate since 1993. True, in 2003, these voters seized control of the city councils of major cities, not because of a surge in the popularity of their agenda, but because of the widespread abstention of those who had lost hope in the effectiveness of reformist candidates.
  • But instead greater mass participation in the local elections of 2007 cost the hardliners their grip upon local councils. In Tehran, Ahmadinejad's men lost two thirds of their seats and had to share power with reformists and moderate conservatives.
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  • Khatami, then president, promised he would reveal details of election irregularities before leaving office, but this was a promise he did not keep. Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf, another contestant who later replaced Ahmadinejad as mayor of Tehran, announced that $330 million of the municipal budget was unaccounted for, hinting broadly that the monies had been illegally diverted to the Ahmadinejad campaign. Parliament formed a commission to investigate, but the new speaker, loyal to Ahmadinejad, suspended the investigation.
  • Incredulously, the ex-premier exclaimed: "They keep telling me, 'They used to cut neckties in your era.' Who do you think used to cut neckties? Who do you think Imam Khomeini forbade from interfering in people's lives? It was the same people who are in the administration now!"
  • Unlike in previous elections, the Ministry of Interior authorized deployment of 14,000 mobile voting booths, making it very difficult for candidates to send monitors to observe the balloting at every booth. Some 14.5 million extra ballots, by some reports, were printed and no clear system was delineated to track them. When several polling stations in urban centers ran out of ballots, Mousavi supporters asked where the extra ballots were, but they could not be found, and remain unaccounted for to date.
  • Yet the clearest violation of the law would be Mousavi and Karroubi's claim that their observers were not allowed to be present when ballots were counted and the ballot boxes sealed. By law and custom, these observers confirm that the boxes are empty before voting starts, and they are present at the count, sign the result sheet and take away a copy. They are also supposed to be present when the ballot boxes are finally sealed and sent to the Interior Ministry.
  • Unlike in previous elections and despite the enormous turnout, the Ministry of Interior was quick to declare a victor and the Leader officially congratulated Ahmadinejad before a final tally was released or the Guardian Council could make time to review complaints. The "result" generated sub-controversies as well. To highlight just a few, Karroubi is said to have won less than half a million votes (less than the number of spoiled ballots), when in 2005 he earned about 5 million votes, or 17 percent of the total vote. The initial count, oddly, did not include any ruined ballots.
  • During the campaign, opposition candidates repeatedly argued that Ahmadinejad had flaunted regulatory procedures in attempts to circumvent the constitutional checks and balances on the powers of the presidency. Today, it is apparent that this major campaign theme has been borne out in the election itself.
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    Great detail on the political background (inc. 2003, 4 and 7 elections); no the campaign, and on the result. Some good points on electoral processes as well, and the congruence between Ahmadinejad's circumlocation of proceedures for accountability whilst in office, and the conduct of the election.
Frank Gallagher

Another Transcript of Rafsanjani's Speech - 0 views

  • This week, Imam Jafar Sadigh’s martyrdom’s celebration will be held. He spent his entire life either in prison or being censored.
  • The Islamic Revolution was the way of Mohammed. People should be brought into the system first, This is why Imam Khomeini was successful.
  • We were with Imam Khomeini, He always said that without the participation of the people the Islamic government would never be successful. The role that Imam gave the people was very high. (Story about Mohammed’s late life about how important people are)
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  • When we were writing the new constitution, We asked the Imam for advice, He put a lot of emphasis on the role of the people. He also knew that people’s vote was the most important thing inside our country. Everything depended upon the people’s vote. People should directly elect the president, the parliament, the local council. It was all about the vote of the people. This is a theocracy, A theocratic republic.
  • We need to be able to sit down like brothers and sisters and talk about our differences. Unfortunately, The chance that was given to the Guardian Council of five days to get people together and regain their trust was not used.
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    Less polished English, but perhaps thus closer to the original Persian!
Frank Gallagher

EurasiaNet Civil Society - Iran: Ahmadinejad Backers Lay Groundwork for Massive Vote-Ri... - 0 views

  • After four years in office, Ahmadinejad has filled the Interior Ministry with cronies, many of whom have connections to the Revolutionary Guards. A source who participated in closed Interior Ministry planning sessions, speaking on condition of anonymity to EurasiaNet, says top ministry personnel openly stated during one session that a repeat of the 1997 election, in which the reformist candidate, Mohammad Khatami, scored an upset victory, would not be tolerated on June 12.
  • By the numbers, it would seem that the country’s vast election apparatus has the ability to guarantee a favorable outcome for Ahmadinejad. According to Kamran Daneshjoo, the Interior Ministry official responsible for overseeing the voting, there are 385,000 citizens who will be administering voting precincts. The Guardian Council is expected to deploy another 340,000 people to monitor the balloting. In addition, there will be hundreds of thousands of security personnel deployed on election day. Overall, the country has about 57 million citizens of voting age, meaning that roughly 1 in 60 Iranians of voting age will be involved in some aspect of conducting the election.
  • For one, they note that over 59 million ballots have been printed, far more than the number of registered voters
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  • They also have evidence that a substantial, though undetermined, number of soldiers has been ordered to hand over their national identity cards to officers.
  • Most importantly, according to another CPV report, up to a third of voting booths in Iran will be protected by the Revolutionary Guards, and not the regular Law Enforcement Agency personnel.
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    Reasonable pre-election look at suspicious activity. Good stats on electoral administration.
Frank Gallagher

Guardian - Mass arrests and campus raids as regime hits back - 0 views

  • hundreds of activists, journalists and intellectuals
  • Four pro-reform newspapers have been closed down,
  • With the exception of Yazdi, the arrests appeared to bypass political leaders and focus on their lieutenants.
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  • Tavassali
  • Nabavi
  • Atrianfar
  • The organisation said security service agents have moved into newspaper offices where they have been vetting articles and censoring content.
  • concerted campaign to link the protests with foreign intervention
  • The wave of detentions has spread beyond the capital to include provincial cities. At least 100 civic figures are understood to have been arrested in Tabriz, where Mousavi has strong support.
  • In Shiraz, in the south of the country, Amnesty cited reports said that a hundred students had been detained after security forces used teargas to storm the university library.
  • members of the Tahkim-e Vahdat, an influential students organisation supporting the other reformist candidate Mehdi Karoubi, had been "systematically targeted".
  • Jalaeipour
  • Soltani
  • Abtahi
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    Covers arrests made 12th-17th June.
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