Bad news for Amadinejad, hope for Iran??

[FrankRizzoXD40]

Ahmadinejad Opponents Leading Elections
Dec 18 12:46 PM US/Eastern


By ALI AKBAR DAREINI
Associated Press Writer
TEHRAN, Iran

Opponents of hardline President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad took an early lead in key races in Iran's local elections, according to partial results announced Monday, with moderate conservatives winning control of councils across the country.

If the final results hold _ especially in the bellwether capital, Tehran _ it will be an embarrassment to Ahmadinejad, whose anti- Israeli rhetoric and unyielding position on Iran's nuclear program have provoked condemnation in the West and moves toward sanctions at the U.N. Security Council.

The incomplete results announced by the Interior Ministry suggested that the winners were mostly moderate conservatives opposed to the hardline president, rather than reformists.

However, reformists, who want to bring a measure of liberalism to Iranian society and improve the country's relationship with the West, were quick to proclaim victory.

"Early results show that Mr. Ahmadinejad's list has suffered a decisive defeat nationwide," the Islamic Iran Participation Front, the largest reformist party, said in a statement. "It is a big 'no' to the government's authoritarian and inefficient methods."

The pro-reformist newspaper Etemad-e-Melli said in an editorial: "The most important message of Friday's vote was that the people have chosen moderation and rejected extremism."

A freelance Iranian journalist of reformist sympathies, Iraj Jamshidi, described the vote as "a blow to Ahmadinejad," who was elected in June 2005.

"After a year, Iranians have seen the consequences of the extremist policies employed by Ahmadinejad. Now, they have said a big 'no' to him," said Jamshidi.

In the key race for Tehran, candidates supporting Mayor Mohammed Bagher Qalibaf, a moderate conservative opposed to the president, had taken the lead.

The Interior Ministry said only about 500,000 votes had been counted so far in Tehran, about 20 percent of the expected turnout. Final results, however, were released from all municipal districts outside the capital.

In the southern historical city of Shiraz, as well as in the provincial capitals of Rasht, northern Iran, and Bandar Abbas, southern Iran, not one pro-Ahmadinejad candidate won a seat on the city council.

The partial results indicated, separately, that reformers might be making a partial comeback, after having been suppressed in the parliamentary elections of 2004 when many of their best candidates were barred from running.

In the elections for the Assembly of Experts, a conservative body of 86 senior clerics that monitors Iran's supreme leader and chooses his successor, opponents of the president also appeared to have done well.

Former President Hashemi Rafsanjani, who lost to Ahmadinejad in the 2005 presidential election runoff, drew the most votes of any Tehran candidate to win a seat on the Assembly of Experts.

By contrast, an ally of the president, Ayatollah Mohammad Taqi Mesbah Yazdi, won an assembly seat with a low vote total. Yazdi is regarded as Ahmadinejad's spiritual mentor.

Hasan Rowhani, who was Iran's top nuclear negotiator under former President Mohammad Khatami, was also elected to the assembly. Ahmadinejad has repeatedly accused Rowhani of being too soft in negotiations with the Europeans.

Turnout overall was more than 60 percent _ substantially higher than that of the 2002 local elections when turnout was about 50 percent, and marginally above that of the presidential elections last year when turnout was 59 percent.

Government officials have so far given no comment on the partial results. They were quick, however, to praise the turnout, saying it would send a strong message to the West that Iran is a democracy.

A political analyst, Mostafa Mirzaeian, said Iran's political lineup was changing in favor of more moderate voices _ although he stressed those winning were still within the ruling Islamic establishment.

"Results also show that a new coalition has developed between reformers and moderate conservatives, at the expense of hard-line extremists who support Ahmadinejad," he said.

More than 233,000 candidates ran for more than 113,000 council seats in cities, towns and villages across the vast nation on Friday. Local councils elect city mayors and approve community budgets and planning projects. All municipal council candidates, including some 5,000 women, were vetted by parliamentary committees dominated by hard-liners. The committees disqualified about 10,000 nominees, according to reports in Iranian newspapers.


Copyright 2006 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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Hopefully the government won't bar any newly elected candidates from serving. Apparently deploying tactics like banning newspapers, jailing journalists, restricting internet access, etc, etc, etc has not resonated well with the Iranian people.

Hard to tell if these results actually mean anything or if they will be allowed to stand. Apparently the reformists didn't win, but moderate hard-liners did. I guess that is better than Amadinejad type hard-liners, but not by much.

We should be POURNING money and support into Iran for pro-democracy and moderate islamic groups.

Frank

[FrankRizzoXD40]

Here's another story...

Iranian students hide in fear for lives after venting fury at Ahmadinejad

· President's supporters vow revenge on protesters
· Activists forecast harsher crackdown on dissent

Robert Tait in Tehran
Monday December 18, 2006
The Guardian

Iranian student activists who staged an angry protest against President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad last week have gone into hiding in fear for their lives after his supporters threatened them with revenge.

One student fled after being photographed holding a banner reading, "Fascist president, the polytechnic is not for you", during Mr Ahmadinejad's visit to Tehran's Amir Kabir university. At least three others have gone underground after being seen burning his picture. Vigilantes from the militant Ansar-e Hezbollah group have been searching for them.

In a startling contrast to the acclaim Mr Ahmadinejad has received in numerous recent appearances around Iran, he faced chants of "Death to the dictator" as he addressed a gathering in the university's sports hall last week. Several hundred students forced their way in to voice anger over a clampdown on universities since he became president last year.

While his aides played down the incident, the Guardian has learned details of the violent and chaotic events.

The disclosures came yesterday as early returns from Friday's council elections indicated that Mr Ahmadinejad's hardline supporters had failed in their attempt to take control of several key local authorities. Turnout was estimated at about 60% after reformers urged liberal-minded electors to vote in large numbers to protest against the government's policies.
Last Monday's university demonstration triggered violent clashes between student activists and crowds of Basij militia, who were there to support the president. A shoe was thrown at Mr Ahmadinejad while a student had his nose broken by an aide to a cabinet minister.

Protesters later surrounded the president's car, prompting a security guard to fire a stun grenade to warn them off. Four cars in the presidential convoy collided in their haste to leave. Mr Ahmadinejad's staff later insisted he had remained calm and ordered that the students should go unpunished. But some of those present say he accused them of being paid United States agents who would be confronted.

"He threatened us directly, saying that what we were doing was against the wishes of the nation," said Babak Zamanian, a spokesman for Amir Kabir university's Islamic students' committee. "After that, the students protested even more sharply, calling him a lying religious dictator and shouting, 'Forget America and start thinking about us!'

"We were chanting, 'Get lost Ahmadinejad!' and 'Ahmadinejad - element of discrimination and corruption.' You could see from his face that he was really shocked. He wasn't flashing his usual smile, and at one stage I thought he was going to cry. He told his supporters to respond with a religious chant hailing Ahmadinejad, but he was so shaken he was actually chanting it himself."

Another student said: "He was trying to keep control of himself, but you could see he was angry and upset."

Witnesses say Mr Ahmadinejad also tried to ridicule the students by referring to the university disciplinary code, under which those with three penalty points are suspended from studies. "He joked that he was going to issue a presidential order for those with three stars to be enlisted as sergeants in the army. That made the students really angry," said Mr Zamanian.

The university authorities' contentious use of the disciplinary code was said to be a trigger for last week's protest. About 70 students have been suspended and threatened with expulsion for various political activities, including writing articles critical of the government.

Last month, the authorities demolished two building belonging to the Islamic students' committee - a moderate grouping representing diverse opinions. An elected student body was also disbanded. Women students have been told to wear conservative dress and remove any makeup.

In this atmosphere, activists at Amir Kabir university - a traditional hotbed of political activism - regarded Mr Ahmadinejad's visit as a deliberate provocation and decided to protest. While many chanted, a hard core waved banners and burned his portrait, some ignoring instructions to cover their faces.

The 21-year-old student holding the "fascist president" banner was among those threatened with expulsion. He is said to be in grave danger after foreign news outlets, including the Guardian, published a picture of his gesture. Friends say he went into hiding after being confronted by two vigilantes.

"They said they would pull his father out of the grave [an ancient Persian threat]," said one student. "He is in real danger. Vigilantes have been standing at the dormitory doors asking for him."
Students now fear an even fiercer crackdown. "We believe [the authorities] will react much worse than before," said Armin Salmasi, 26, a leading activist. "We are already under constant surveillance. The student movement in Iran is going to be driven underground - just like it was before the revolution."
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I would say that another crackdown is imminent, due to the apparent results of the election.

Can you imagine this:Last month, the authorities demolished two building belonging to the Islamic students' committee - a moderate grouping representing diverse opinions. An elected student body was also disbanded. Women students have been told to wear conservative dress and remove any makeup.

happening in the US???

Further evidence of the dangers of radical islam, specifically Iran.

Frank

[Son of Norway]

"The incomplete results announced by the Interior Ministry suggested that the winners were mostly moderate conservatives opposed to the hardline president, rather than reformists.

However, reformists, who want to bring a measure of liberalism to Iranian society and improve the country's relationship with the West, were quick to proclaim victory."

Wow. Kinda just like our mid-term elections.

[FrankRizzoXD40]

Originally Posted by Son of Norway

"The incomplete results announced by the Interior Ministry suggested that the winners were mostly moderate conservatives opposed to the hardline president, rather than reformists.

However, reformists, who want to bring a measure of liberalism to Iranian society and improve the country's relationship with the West, were quick to proclaim victory."

Wow. Kinda just like our mid-term elections.

Good point--to a certain extent. A lot of conservative (blue-dog, as they are known by some) democrats won election to congress. They include Bob Casey, D-PA and Jim Webb, D-VA.

I'm encouraged by Iran's "elections", but with all the cracking down that Amadninejad has done on individual freedoms, I'm not sure it is going to make much of a difference. At least some of our suspicions that Amadninejad's hard-line views are not shared by the people of Iran can be somewhat substantiated.

Frank