A creature called democracy in Iran
What has always been amazing to me is the non-coherent structure of the government in Iran. We are Islamic Republic of Iran. How can you get your legitimacy both from votes of people and from God? Who is there to verify if your understanding from word of God is right or wrong? The sad thing is that after 26 years it is obvious that the one who always looses is the republic side. They have created these different filters so called different boards who basically verify if the candidates are qualified before allowing them to take part in any election. The result is that people are always choosing among worse and worst. None of those who are people's real choices are ever qualified. This is *if* people get to vote at all...I mean take drinking alcohol for example. It is forbidden by religion. You can not find any bars or wine stores in Iran. People drink but it is illegal and has punishments if they get you. In this case, if all people vote pro drinking does not make any difference. Nobody actually asks people's opinion to begin with. Same is true with women's Hejab in public (i.e. all parts of body except face and feet and hands should be covered) I can go on with examples...
Now here is the contradictory side. They need to pretend that it is a democratic country. Some of them might actually believe that it partly is...but the fact is that they need to make it look like a democratic country. Why? Because of some international pressure. My personal opinion is that they mainly need the EU to be relatively satisfied. Because of all the bans from the United States, EU is actually the one main reason they have survived after the war with Iraq ended and they gradually lost their legitimacy inside Iran and among the new generation who never saw the war but had to deal with all the limitations and poverty. If EU countries want to deal with Iran they have to be able to tell their people that there is election happening in Iran...that this government is their choice...it is a big lie but it works...The funniest yet the most impudent thing that they are doing now is to suggest the guy named Rafsanjani to run for presidency election in 2005 again. He was the main reason that the war with Iraq continued after its second year. He was president for 8 years and his terms were one of the darkest times in terms of censorship, torture and execution and above all he and his family are the wealthiest people in Iran cause they are controlling everything from oil to biscuits in Iran....after his presidency finished he ran for the parliament but he didn't get enough votes in the first run... as you can guess miraculously he got enough votes in the second run to barely make it in...But he dropped at the last minute...with all this he still wants to run for presidency...he has every underground power one can have...but to be a president he needs to pretend that he is elected...
Now here is the contradictory side. They need to pretend that it is a democratic country. Some of them might actually believe that it partly is...but the fact is that they need to make it look like a democratic country. Why? Because of some international pressure. My personal opinion is that they mainly need the EU to be relatively satisfied. Because of all the bans from the United States, EU is actually the one main reason they have survived after the war with Iraq ended and they gradually lost their legitimacy inside Iran and among the new generation who never saw the war but had to deal with all the limitations and poverty. If EU countries want to deal with Iran they have to be able to tell their people that there is election happening in Iran...that this government is their choice...it is a big lie but it works...The funniest yet the most impudent thing that they are doing now is to suggest the guy named Rafsanjani to run for presidency election in 2005 again. He was the main reason that the war with Iraq continued after its second year. He was president for 8 years and his terms were one of the darkest times in terms of censorship, torture and execution and above all he and his family are the wealthiest people in Iran cause they are controlling everything from oil to biscuits in Iran....after his presidency finished he ran for the parliament but he didn't get enough votes in the first run... as you can guess miraculously he got enough votes in the second run to barely make it in...But he dropped at the last minute...with all this he still wants to run for presidency...he has every underground power one can have...but to be a president he needs to pretend that he is elected...
posted by Anar @ 3:02 PM
4 comments
4 Comments:
Pantea, this is a very impressive post! I think that you write very well. :) You have given me food for some very serious thinking.
A true democracy, which is defined by a government selected by the people that it represents, and that truely serves those people by doing the greatest good for the greatest number of people, is a theoretical abstraction. In reality, many of the human beings that stand for election in democratic countries are flawed by desires for power and wealth. Individuals who are this self centered will never truely serve those who vote for them. However, in countries whose democracys attempt to approach the ideal of the concept, there are checks and balances built into the system which limit the worst sort of behavior that self centered individuals are capable of. Ultimately, those really bad apples must face the music of the ballot box, and in a fair election, their bad conduct will cost them their seat in the government.
Democracy is a living thing in that it must grow and change to meet the evolving needs of people over time. One of the unfortunate aspects of organized and institutionalized religions is that they are highly resistant to growing and evolving. Religious dogma, the rules and beliefs that a religion holds sacred, tend to be quite static across the centuries. This has especially held true since the invention of writing. It is no wonder that historically, when one group of people conquers another, the conquerers usually institute their own religious beliefs, make the old religion illegal, and destroy all the old religious texts. A religious democracy is a contradiction in terms. To be democratic is to embrace differences of opinion. To be religious is to seek to destroy differences of belief.
Democracies seem to be most successful when matters of politics and matters of religion are kept separate. A democratic government must be based on the rule of law not the arbitrary edicts of religious leaders who interpret ancient dogma to best suit themselves, their families, and their friends. The idea that everyone must be equal in the eyes of the law is, like democracy, an ideal that is difficult to realize in practice. However, it is necessary to strive for this ideal if a democracy is to survive.
Yesterday, I read that former Iranian Vice President Abtahi has published in his blog the statements of Iranian bloggers who were recently arrested and tortured in prison. I also read that the practice of torture was banned by the government of Iran in April of this year. I believe that Abtahi is attempting to promote the concept of the rule of law by making public these gross violations of human rights, and indeed, the law of Iran. I hope that this is true. I also hope that the EU and the U.S. will take notice of this and push for further human rights reforms in Iran in exchange for the trade agreements that Iran very much needs.
“A religious democracy is a contradiction in terms. To be democratic is to embrace differences of opinion. To be religious is to seek to destroy differences of belief.” This was the best you could put it.
You are right about Abtahi. He wrote in his blog about the torture. His blog is hacked now but if you don’t have it’s address I can give it to you as soon as it’s up again. Although I am not sure if the contents of the English and Farsi parts are always the same. For example on a subject like this I am not sure if he will put the English version up as well.
Although theoritically torture was abaondned in Iran it is practiced in jails. In iran, since Khatami’s presidency, we have two governments. One that we show off just to get approval and one who is hidden and has all the powers. Torture is practiced by this second government.
btw, where did you read about Abtahi?
Here is a link to the web site where I read an English translation of Abtahi's post. This link was provided by a visitor to Ehsan's blog. Please send me a link to Abtahi's blog when it is working again.
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