Tuesday, February 7, 2012

Iran's Majlis Elections: Split within Ruling Coalition

In an unexpected move that is causing a major split at the ruling “United Principlist Front” (UPF), the central committee of the conservative coalition today eliminated three prominent members from its list of candidates for the upcoming parliamentary elections. The UPF announced the current lawmakers Ali Motahari, Ali Abbaspour and Hamid Reza Katouzian will not be endorsed as its candidates to run for the Ninth Majlis elections on 2 March.

The three lawmakers, all from Tehran, immediately formed a new coalition named “Government Critics” and announced that they will put forward their own lists for the capital city and other jurisdictions shortly. During the current Majlis, these three members were among the fiercest critics of Ahmadinejad administration.

The creation of “Government Critics” (GC) further complicates the parliamentary race. Many voters especially hold Ali Motahari in high regards for his independence, and political analysts in Tehran now believe that a large number of pro-reformist voters that were expected to boycott the elections might now participate and cast their votes for Motahari and his GC lists in large cities, giving them a chance to come on top in Tehran and some other major cities.

Aside from the UPF and now the GC, there is the Resistance Front (RF), an ultraconservative coalition headed by Ayatollah Mesbah Yazdi. The RF has announced that it will present its lists for most of the jurisdictions later this week. The RF is expected to do well in rural and smaller towns, but suffer in Tehran and large cities for lack of name recognition of its expected candidates and the opposition to its ultraconservative policies.

The reformists are not fielding any candidates, but many of pro-reform voters could cast their votes against the establishment candidates fielded by UPF, especially now that they have a choice to vote for the GC candidates. The Mashaie Coalition might also do well as a result of the split at UPF.

12 comments:

Anonymous said...

Mr Uskowi please stop mentioning this Tavileh to us.
They play no part in our daily lives except as a rubber stamp for Khamenei and other mullahs like him.
The Tavileh is there to play in regimes farce and lies.

Unknown said...

Fake democracy, fake discourse, fake division of powers.
Iran today is as republic as north korea (the democratic republic of Korea) is "democratic".

Anonymous said...

Jabbar,

Just like in the USA, I guess. Two parties which are sponsored by - and pledged allegiance to - the same groups. Maybe you have grown accustom to how things are on your home turf, but for us outsiders it does not appear to be much better.

...not to mention the state of European politics where, day by day, they are giving up their democracy and national sovereignty to unelected technocrats in Brussels.

Iran is no better and certainly no worse. But at least we Iranians are more cynical than the sheep in the west who actually belie what their politicians spew.

mat said...

'IRAN AIR DEFENSE CLOSELY
MONITORING ENEMIES' MILITARY MOVES'
Wed Feb 8, 2012 9:8AM GMT


Iran's Armed Forces and air defense are closely monitoring all military moves by foreign and aggressive powers in the region, particularly around the country’s border regions, says a senior Iranian commander.

With its great capabilities and highly efficient military hardware, Iran’s air defense is on the alert for foreign powers’ military moves and also fully prepared to counter any threats against the country at all times, Commander of Northeastern Air Defense Unit Colonel Abdollah Reshadi told reporters on Tuesday.

He added that Iran's air defense radar systems can easily detect cruise missiles and drones.

Iran's air defense will give a tough response to any threat with its various ground-to-air missiles and weapons, most of which have been upgraded or manufactured inside the country, Reshadi reiterated.

Anonymous said...

Anon 6:44 AM

Not everybody in the West believes their politicians or political parties.
But in the west governments don't murder their political opponents or shot demonstrators from roof tops with sniper fire and use thugs to intimidate by using sharp tools to kill and harm the protesters.

Anonymous said...

1:04 PM,

Excuse me but, really, the west does not murder its political opponents? Perhaps you have forgotten the countless wars and genocides started by the west in order to achieve political objectives. Or is it OK to kill third-worlders...

To me killing Afghan or Iraqi civilians is just as bad as killing Iranians. The value of human life does not decrease when you leave your own borers!

Anonymous said...

Anon 5:13 PM
What is your problem man?
In the 21st century the west doesn't kill their own people because they protest.We are not talking about foreign wars.
When did I say that the lives of Iranians are less than Europeans?
Your Islamic government is killing their own people because they want change.
More people have been killed by Saddam and Assad Pol pot etc etc
Don't put words into my mouth man.

Unknown said...

Annon 6.44am

I don't disagree that it takes a special breed to be a politician, but politicians can still be made accountable if the system in not rigged.
I just voted in the primary election in the USA. My candidate lost, but I didn't have a problem with that, as my candidate was able to run for office without the government having the ability to exclude him because of his political views, religious affiliations, or whatever else criteria applied in Iran today. Iranian candidates are vetted, which is a process that would be illegal in any democracy. What's the point of election if the candidates are pre-selected.
In the recent primary, all my candidate had to do was collect enough signitures to be on the balet, meet age and citizenship criteria then run for office. Please don't tell me that you sincerely believe that the same standard is applies in Iran.
Another thing to keep in mind that supporters of the regime in Iran can not use other countries shortcomings as an excuse for iran's own, self generated, problems.
Even if the entire world is "wrong" that doesn't make what the regime in Iran does "right".

Anonymous said...

10:06 PM,

I am not putting words in your mouth but rather exposing your bias. When you claim that the west does not murder for political purposes, then you are either very biased or very ignorant.

Murder is murder, it does not matter if you turn the gun towards an Iranian or an Afghan or Iraqi.

Western powers have perfected genocide. Iranian politicians are nothing but small fish in this. Study some modern history and you will realise this.

Anonymous said...

Anon 2:42 AM


We are talking about a government of a country murdering their own citizens.A regime that murdered ten thousand of it's citizens in less than two months in 1986.
Either you don't understand or don't want to understand or not Iranian to understand.So who is ignorant now?
The Islamic republic has murdered and is murdering thousands of their own citizens because they wish change of regime.Now what has that got to do with being bias ?
Stop being a apologist for the Islamic regime.

Anonymous said...

Anon 2:42 AM
Assad is murdering hundreds a day with his brutal military.
What's your opinion on that?
Or is that the Wests fault as well because of the evil Americans and "Zionists".
It's laughable while you hate the West you still love to live in the West because of its security,yet you think those fascist regimes in Iran Syria etc are the lesser evil.
So I've exposed you as a hypocrite.

Anonymous said...

This is democracy at work.