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Al-Ahram Weekly 4 - 10 March 1999 Issue No. 419 
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Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Al-Ahram Weekly 4 - 10 March 1999 Issue No. 419
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| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Egypt Region International Economy Opinion Culture Focus Travel Sports People Time Out Chronicles Cartoons Letters Khatami strikes again
By Safa HaeriAccording to the latest results published on Monday by the Iranian Interior Ministry, reformists close to moderate President Mohamed Khatami gained a strong lead in the country's first-ever municipal elections since the toppling of the Shah and the setting up of the Islamic republic in 1979.
Hardline opponents of Khatami failed to win a single seat in Tehran, the key district in the country's local elections. Khatami loyalists won 12 out of the 15 seats contested in the capital in last Friday's vote. The other three went to independents.
Female candidates were reported to be front-runners in at least 20 cities. Nearly all of them were supporters of Khatami, who has encouraged women to play a greater role in Iran's political life.
The Interior Ministry said that final results may not be available before Friday, especially those of seats in the larger cities. In some areas, the turnout was so high that polling stations ran out of ballot papers and voting hours had to be extended twice.
Around 330,000 candidates ran for some 200,000 seats on municipal councils. Some candidates were unopposed.
In Tehran, former Interior Minister Abdullah Nouri, a well-known Khatami loyalist, received the largest number of votes. Hardline members of parliament forced Nouri from the Interior Ministry last year over his support for Khatami's policy of greater social, political and cultural freedom. They unsuccessfully tried to disqualify Nouri from running in the local elections.
According to experts on Iranian affairs, the results represent a significant boost for Khatami. Slowly but surely Khatami is becoming the central figure in the Islamic republic. The mere fact of these elections taking place at all is a victory for the reform-seeking president. They were promised as part of his presidential campaign, along with measures to strengthen civil society and the rule of law.
"We claim 25 centuries of history and civilisation but during these 25 centuries the people of our country never participated in decision-making or decided things for themselves," moderate candidate Alizadeh Tabatabai told the pro-Khatami leftist newspaper Salam.
Conservatives did all they could to prevent the elections from taking place. After failing in this, they tried to bar leading reformist candidates from running. When the conservative-controlled Surveillance Committee banned certain pro-Khatami candidates on the pretext that they had not pledged full allegiance to the absolute rule of the Velayat Faqih, the Supreme Guide of the Iranian Revolution Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the Iranian president intervened and vetoed the decision.
"Reformists from the president's camp scored a big victory defeating once again the hardline conservatives," commented Iraj Jamshidi, an independent journalist based in Tehran. "Our hope is that... they [the conservatives] will now understand that it does not pay to stand in the way of the people, of reforms and of democracy."
Baqer Mo'in, head of BBC Persian and Pashtoun Services and a prominent analyst on Iranian affairs, said: "Although just a first step, it shows the success of Khatami's efforts to open up the political, cultural and social climate of the country. Whether they like it or not, his conservative opponents have no other choice but to accept that there is no other way, that the process is irreversible."
He continued: "As a result of these elections, people's demands from their representatives in next year's parliamentary elections will no longer be expressed in terms of divine, unattainable heavenly fruits but in earthy, concrete terms such as better public transport, an improved sewage system, clean air, more freedom and security and better living conditions."
Since coming to power almost 20 months ago when he won an astonishing victory over candidates of the powerful conservative establishment supported by Khamenei, Khatami has had to confront those who cannot forgive him for his triumph.
During these months he has suffered many humiliations and seen his most important allies and colleagues censored. But with the backing of his supporters, mainly students, intellectuals, technocrats, the middle and working classes, he has kept the faith.
