Khatami and Neda: Former President Mohammad Khatami is criticised for his "betrayal" in voting in Friday's elections
0650 GMT: We begin the morning with one assessment of the political situation, Josh Shahryar's "Elections, Politics, and Political War", and later today we will post another, Scott Lucas's "The 'Invented' Election". Meanwhile, two glimpses to start the day....
The Media Drumbeat for "A Glorious Turnout"
No prizes for guessing the headlines in Iranian media, with the "celebration of the people's presence" and the failure of "an angry, disappointed enemy" over the record-breaking participation that supposedly occurred in Friday's Parliamentary election.
That concerted media campaign, scripted by regime officials not just yesterday but for many days before that, can claim some success. Combined with a sustained effort to shut down any observations by foreign media, apart from those of carefully-selected polling places, the official line conquers outlets such as The Washington Post. That newspaper headlines, "High Turnout Reported in Iran for Parliamentary Elections", even though its Tehran correspondent tips off the regime-manufactured scene: "It was difficult to verify turnout, with no independent monitors on the ground, [although] several polling stations in Tehran were receiving a constant stream of voters."
EA's Josh Shahryar summarises, "When you've shut down independent media, you can have whatever kind of turnout you'd like."
The Criticism of One Former President, The Clever Manoeuvre of Another
It will be a bad day for former President Mohammad Khatami. His indecision over how far to show opposition to yesterday's election finally gave way to a vote, seized upon by State media as proof of the legitimacy of the regime.
As Khatami had said there should be no participation unless conditions such as freeing of political prisoners and freedom of political parties were fulfilled --- and given that this did not happen --- he has been assailed by criticism from reformists and activists.
In contrast, former President Hashemi Rafsanjani crafted a careful but effective strategic manoeuvre. He cast his ballot, but he both aligned himself with the "people" and implicitly challenged the regime when he said, "
God willing, the result will be what the people voted for."
Posted via email from lissping
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: only a member of this blog may post a comment.