{"id":7645,"date":"2020-02-20T13:20:44","date_gmt":"2020-02-20T10:20:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/rasanah-iiis.org\/english\/?p=7645"},"modified":"2021-06-06T09:44:28","modified_gmt":"2021-06-06T06:44:28","slug":"only-24-percent-to-take-part-in-parliamentary-elections-in-tehran-students-hold-assemblies-against-show-elections","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rasanah-iiis.org\/english\/monitoring-and-translation\/iran-in-a-week\/only-24-percent-to-take-part-in-parliamentary-elections-in-tehran-students-hold-assemblies-against-show-elections\/","title":{"rendered":"Only 24 Percent to Take Part in Parliamentary Elections in Tehran; Students Hold Assemblies Against \u201cShow Elections\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Why Rouhani Doesn\u2019t\nCare about Public Opinion<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The editorial of Jahan Sanat written by the \u201creformist\u201d academic Sadegh Zibakalam focuses on Iranian President Hassan Rouhani\u2019s disregard for public opinion, trying to explain why he doesn\u2019t care if he loses his popularity. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rouhani\u2019s recent press conference with international and\ndomestic media represented his first confrontation with public opinion after\ntwo bitter incidents over the past three months. He was expected to have\nsomething new to say about the November protests, the uncertainties surrounding\nthe death toll, and the downing of the Ukrainian passenger flight. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Not only did Rouhani not have anything new to say regarding\nthe aforementioned, but he also didn\u2019t even try to align himself with the\npeople\u2019s emotions. His smiling expression while reiterating the same remarks\nregarding human error in the downing of the airplane or his silence on the\ndeath toll during the November protests were indicative of this behavior. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

To understand why Rouhani is acting like this, he must be\nclosely studied. He has been losing his popularity day by day, so much so that\nif an election is held tomorrow, he will definitely not gain 24 million votes,\nhe will not even win 240,000 votes. He himself must be aware of this. Even if\nhe himself lives in an ivory tower, his assistants and consultants who live in\nsociety must have told him about his declining popularity. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Why doesn\u2019t he care about angering people with his behavior\nand remarks? To some extent, this goes back to his arrogant nature. Among\npolitical figures in Iran before and after the revolution, there has been no\none as arrogant as Rouhani. He doesn\u2019t care at all for the opinion of the elite\nand the people. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The other reason, perhaps, is that he has set other goals\nfor himself after his second term is over, which has nothing to do with the\nballot box and public opinion. He might be thinking of a position [i.e.\nleadership] that doesn\u2019t need public votes. If so, this would explain  his behavior as he must please other centers\nof power if he wants to have the position that he is seeking. This is what he\nhas been doing after the 2017 presidential elections: paying more attention to\nthe centers of power and less attention to the elites, writers, academics, and\nthe people in general.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jahan Sanat<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The \u201cPrinciplists\u201d Lack a Strategy<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

As we get closer to the parliamentary elections in Iran, the hardline \u201cprinciplists\u201d see themselves as the decisive winners of this election, given the disqualification of \u201creformist\u201d candidates by the Guardian Council. The editorial of Ebtekar explains that the \u201cprinciplists\u201d have no unanimous strategy for running the country when they take power, as they cannot even agree over the list of candidates in Tehran. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The 11th parliamentary election can be considered a unique, unprecedented opportunity for the hardline \u201cprinciplists\u201d in Iran. So far, they have never had such an upper hand over the \u201creformists\u201d. After successive \u201creformist\u201d victories in different elections during 2013 to 2017, a sudden turn in global and international relations resulted in the tide turning against the \u201creformists\u201d. Along with these changes, media propaganda resulted in the \u201creformist\u2019s\u201d support base distancing itself from \u201creformist\u201d officials and lawmakers. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

As a result, the \u201cprinciplists\u201d are reveling in this situation, calling it a victory for themselves and saying that the 11th parliamentary election will belong to them. But this has turned to be the \u201cprinciplists\u2019\u201d Achilles heel in the upcoming parliamentary election. Taking for granted that they will be the winners of the 11th parliamentary election, they have started dividing the spoils among themselves. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

As a matter of fact, dividing the spoils before the victory has revealed gaps and differences in the \u201cprinciplists\u201d, so much so that they couldn\u2019t agree over a single list of candidates in Tehran. Currently, the hardline \u201cprinciplists\u201d are going to take part in Tehran\u2019s election with 4 lists of candidates, which perfectly mirrors their lack of plans and strategies for the future of the country. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This lack of agreement raises serious questions: When they\ncannot agree over a simple list of candidates, how can they solve the country\u2019s\nsignificant problems? What does it mean when a political current that thinks of\nitself as the owner of Iran has so many unresolvable issues within itself? If\nthey win the upcoming elections, is there any guarantee that they will set\naside their differences in order to resolve the country\u2019s problems? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It seems that the \u201cprinciplists\u201d have no theory. In other words, they don\u2019t have any strategy for running the country, because they define their own identity in relation to their rivals \u2013 i.e. the \u201creformists\u201d. As such, the concentration of power in such a current cannot result in any achievements for the country. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ebtekar <\/em><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

What is My Question\nfor the President?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The editorial of Arman Melli mulls over the questions that\nthe media must ask the Iranian President Hassan Rouhani with a focus on his\nfailure to meet his promises despite the fact that he had 24 million votes in\nthe 2017 presidential election. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hassan Rouhani held a press conference with domestic and\ninternational media on Sunday. During the past months, there have been many\nincidents in Iran, but the president\u2019s position towards them has been\nambiguous. This has resulted in speculation arising in society.  Holding a press conference is a good opportunity\nfor Rouhani to reply to the questions raised by the public.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this regard, Rouhani should stop generalizing and talking\nambiguously, while the media too should ask direct questions. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It seems very unlikely that the Iranian president can do much\nduring what is left of his second term. It doesn\u2019t mean that the government\u2019s\nopponents are popular or very powerful; rather, it is Rouhani who doesn\u2019t have\nenough motivation to follow up the issues seriously. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

During the press conference, Rouhani must be asked if the\nbill concerning supervision of the elections has been drafted. If this bill is\ndrafted by the president\u2019s legal deputy and then ratified by the Parliament,\nthen this will be a positive step forward.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Journalists must also ask the president why he has not taken\nadvantage of his position and his 24 million popular votes in 2017 to take the\nnecessary steps in meeting the people\u2019s demands. The presidential election in\n2017 created a wave of hope in society. The president, nevertheless, couldn\u2019t use\nthat opportunity to take any steps in meeting the people\u2019s demands. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The obstacles must be explained to the people, so they come\nto know what the real problems are. Without honesty,  social capital and public trust will not\nreturn, and the government will fail in pursuing popular demands. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The media and the president have to ask and respond to\nquestions honestly to take a step forward. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Arman Melli<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Participation of the\nPrivate Sector, a Claim or Reality?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The editorial of Jahan Sanat focuses on the significance and\nproblems of the private sector in Iran\u2019s economy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Even if we accept that the revolution in Iran has matured\nafter 40 years and has a lot to say in Iran\u2019s political, scientific, social and\ninternational domains, it has not done much in the economy. Given the fact that\ndevelopment must be balanced, the country\u2019s economy too must reach a certain\nlevel to resolve the people\u2019s livelihood problems. As such, the economy must be\none of most important priorities for the country, revolution, and the\nestablishment. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

One of the ways of facilitating this is having more participation\nof the private sector. The government must be present in a large-scale economy\nand have adequate control over it. But the private sector too must be seen as a\nserious actor in the economy, as it is one of the features of the modern era to\ndownsize the government\u2019s role and give a larger share to the private sector.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Today in most countries of the world, the private sector is\nmainly in charge of the economy, which gives the government more of an open\nhand in planning economic policies and a better opportunity for monitoring the\nperformance of economic actors. But in Iran, the private sector is still in its\nearly stages \u2013 mostly because of the government\u2019s extensive interference in the\neconomy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The other problem is the numerous directives issued by the\ngovernment, which hinder the private sector. Difficulty and in some cases\nimpossibility of financial and banking transactions, too, is another problem.\nTo strengthen foreign trade this issue must be resolved, making it possible to\npay and receive currency for exporting and importing. One other obstacle for\nprivate sector actors is that the Foreign Ministry is too involved in this\nfield. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In joint sessions with the private sector, government\nofficials and their representatives always support the serious presence of this\nsector in the economy. But in actuality nothing much happens, because of the\ngovernment\u2019s monopoly over the economy. In other words, the government makes\npromises in this regard but doesn\u2019t do much about it. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tejarat online<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Only 24 Percent to\nTake Part in Parliamentary Elections in Tehran, According to a Poll<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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On the threshold of Iran\u2019s parliamentary election, the\nResearch and Studies Institute of Tehran University released the results of a\npoll stating that only 24 percent of the people in Tehran will go to the ballot\nbox, while more than 75 percent will not vote. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Earlier GAMAAN \u2013 Group for Analyzing and Measuring Attitudes\nin Iran \u2013 had announced that 81 percent of the people would not participate in\nthe election.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to the poll held in the second half of January, 93\npercent of the people in Tehran are not happy with the current conditions in\nthe country, while roughly 5 percent said they are satisfied with their\nconditions. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In response to a question about participation in the\nelection, only 24.2 percent of participants in the poll said they will take\npart in the election. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

After the November protests in Iran, a majority of the\nprotesters said they would boycott the parliamentary elections. Many political\ngroups overseas too have boycotted the election. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the meantime, 164 political and civil activists issued a\nstatement titled \u201cNo to voting in February,\u201d asking Iranian citizens not to\nvote in the upcoming elections and to defend their rights.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Earlier, polling institutes had released similar results showing\na decrease in the people\u2019s willingness to participate in the elections and\ntheir dissatisfaction with the Islamic Republic.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to a poll held by GAMAAN, 76 percent of\nrespondents said in a \u201cfree referendum\u201d they will say \u201cno\u201d to the Islamic\nRepublic. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Iran International<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Protest Assemblies at\nUniversities: Students Slam \u2018Show Elections\u2019, Call for a Referendum<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Students at a number of universities in different cities of\nIran held assemblies in protest to holding \u201cshow elections\u201d in Iran,\nimprisoning students and violating the independence of universities while\ncalling for a referendum on the Islamic republican political system. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIndependence, freedom, Iranian university,\u201d \u201cpeople are\ndealing with poverty, authorities are thinking of their votes,\u201d \u201creferendum,\nreferendum: this is the people\u2019s slogan\u201d and \u201cshame on this tyranny\u201d were among\nthe slogans chanted by students of Tehran University, Allameh Tabatabaei University\nand Bu-Ali Sina University of Hamedan. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In a statement issued by students at Allameh Tabatabaei\nUniversity, they said the Islamic Republican establishment keeps holding show\nelections one after another while claiming republicanism, Islamism, independence\nand freedom. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Students at Amir Kabir University also held a protest\nassembly on the 40th day of the IRGC downing the Ukrainian passenger plane\nwhich killed all 176 on board. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

They chanted the following slogans: \u201cFrom Iran to Baghdad:\npoverty, oppression, tyranny\u201d and \u201cWe do not want martial law\u201d. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Moreover, a number of students at Babol Noshirvani\nUniversity of Technology held an assembly on February 15, calling for the\nrelease of jailed students. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Iran International<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

BBC Persian<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Amnesty\nInternational: The Crackdown in Iran Continued in 2019<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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In its latest report, Amnesty International called 2019 the\nyear in which there was a severe crackdown on the freedom of speech and the\nfreedom of assembly in Iran. The crackdown on the November protests, hundreds\nof deaths, and arbitrary detention of thousands of people are mentioned in this\nreport. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

With regard to the freedom of speech and the freedom of\nassembly, Amnesty International\u2019s annual report points to the crackdown on\nprotests held in November by security forces in which more than 300 people including\nchildren were killed. The report also notes the arbitrary detention of\nthousands of protesters, disappearances, and the brutal, and inhuman torture of\nprotesters. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

While Amnesty International has announced that more than 300\npeople were killed in the November protests, Reuters earlier said in its report\nthat 1,500 people were killed in these protests. Iranian officials and\nauthorities still refuse to announce the death toll. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

At least 240 defenders of human rights including lawyers,\nlabor activists, environmental activists, minority activists, women rights\nactivists, and activists involved in attempting to revoke capital punishment\nand investigate the mass executions in 1980s have been arrested, according to\nthe Amnesty report. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Amnesty International also criticizes the internet outage\nduring the November protests and media censorship, calling it an attempt by\nIranian officials to stop people from sharing images and videos of serious violence\ninflicted by the security forces. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This annual report also points to labor protests being\nsuppressed and a number of workers being arrested on charges of \u201ctaking\nmeasures against national security.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

With regard to women\u2019s rights, the Amnesty International\nreport states: institutionalized discrimination against women in criminal and\ncivil laws including marriage, divorce, employment, inheritance, and political\nappointments still continued in Iran in 2019. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Amnesty International points to the secrecy of Iranian officials and authorities with regard to the fates and burial of thousands of political opponents who were executed during 1987, calling it a crime against humanity.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Deutsche Welle<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Radio Farda<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Iran\nHopes to Attract Billions of Dollars for Petrochemical Projects<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Iran\u2019s oil minister expressed hopes that a major part of the\nrequired investment for completing petrochemical projects will be provided from\n\u201ccollecting people\u2019s micro investments.\u201d Bijan Zanganeh said more than $30\nbillion is needed for completing half-finished projects. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

A severe drop in oil exports and oil revenues have created\nchallenges for all economic activities of the Islamic Republic. And with\nincreasing US sanctions, there is no hope for attracting foreign investment. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Under these circumstances, Zanganeh seems to think that one\nof the most significant ways for getting out of this crisis is by attracting\nthe people\u2019s micro investments, despite the fact that there is no clear evidence\nthat it will be practical and successful. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to the oil minister, Iran currently has more than\n$30 billion  worth of half-finished\nprojects in the petrochemical industry which must be provided for in next five\nyears. \u201cWe intend to do so by attracting the people\u2019s micro investments,\u201d said\nthe oil minister. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Zanganeh added that with respect to petro-refineries, a bill\nwas recently passed which requires up to $20 billion worth of investment.\nAttracting the people\u2019s investment, he said, can be helpful in this regard as\nwell.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Iranian oil minister didn\u2019t provide any explanation to what\nextent the plan to attract the people\u2019s investment would be successful, but\nstressed that right now there is a significant drop in foreign investment for\nfinancing projects.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Iran\u2019s next year\u2019s budget is now facing a considerable\ndeficit which is why tens of thousands of civil projects are in limbo.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to OPEC\u2019s latest statistics, Iran\u2019s oil production\nhas reached 2.1 million bpd. Before the US sanctions, Iran exported 2.5 million\nbpd, in addition to 1.8 million bpd for domestic consumption. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Since the Islamic Republic is selling part of its oil to\ncircumvent the sanctions by smuggling, its exact oil export level is not\nclear.   <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Deutsche Welle<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Why Rouhani Doesn\u2019t Care about Public Opinion The editorial of Jahan Sanat written by the \u201creformist\u201d academic Sadegh Zibakalam focuses on Iranian President Hassan Rouhani\u2019s disregard for public opinion, trying to explain why he doesn\u2019t care if he loses his popularity. Rouhani\u2019s recent press conference with international and domestic media represented his first confrontation with […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":7654,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[30],"tags":[2000,2163,3297,66],"class_list":["post-7645","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-iran-in-a-week","tag-amnesty-international","tag-oil-export","tag-parliamentary","tag-protests"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/rasanah-iiis.org\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7645","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/rasanah-iiis.org\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/rasanah-iiis.org\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rasanah-iiis.org\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/9"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rasanah-iiis.org\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7645"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/rasanah-iiis.org\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7645\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9303,"href":"https:\/\/rasanah-iiis.org\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7645\/revisions\/9303"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rasanah-iiis.org\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7654"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/rasanah-iiis.org\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7645"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rasanah-iiis.org\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7645"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rasanah-iiis.org\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7645"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}