Teaching Comparative Government and Politics

Friday, March 13, 2009

Electoral politics in Iran

I have no clue on the significance of these events, even though the reporters seem to have theories. It seems to me that the supreme leader has so much power, that his decisions matter more than anything else. However, I'm so far removed from the realities of Iranian politics and from the curtain behind which the supreme leader moves the levers of power, that I can only wait to see what happens.

Political setbacks suggest vulnerability of Iran president

"Bad news hammered Iran's hard-line president yesterday as a restless parliament rejected major elements of his proposed budget, a powerful cleric defeated his ally for a key post, and a former prime minister announced that he was gunning for his job in upcoming elections.

"Bad news hammered Iran's hard-line president yesterday as a restless parliament rejected major elements of his proposed budget, a powerful cleric defeated his ally for a key post, and a former prime minister announced that he was gunning for his job in upcoming elections...

"Iran's election season has gotten off to an unusually early and contentious start, underscoring the critical nature of the June vote. Analysts say the election will hinge on bread-and-butter economic issues and might be more hotly contested and unpredictable than any in Iranian history, in part because Ahmadinejad's populism has changed Iran's political landscape...

"An Ahmadinejad ally, Ayatollah Mohammad Yazdi, lost his bid to unseat the powerful Ayatollah Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani as chair of the Council of Experts...

"Ahmadinejad also faced a new challenge yesterday from the left when former Prime Minister Mir Hossein Mousavi announced he would run for the presidency on a platform of restoring faith in public policy..."


Iran's president blames West for economic crisis

"Iran's president blamed the West on Wednesday for the global economic meltdown, saying capitalism has failed and U.S. efforts to bail out companies prove its collapse.

"Hard-liner Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has repeatedly lashed out at the West for the current financial crisis, a tactic that many analysts say is meant to deflect criticism from the president's mismanagement of Iran's economy.

"But his rhetoric has also gotten him in trouble back home from those who believe he has spent too much time slamming the West and not enough trying to fix Iran's domestic problems...

"During Wednesday's summit, Ahmadinejad called for a new global economic system that is based on respecting human rights. He did not provide details. He also called for greater regional economic integration and urged member states to begin discussing the establishment of a single currency and a bank that would promote trade..."


See also:


Prepare for the AP exam: What You Need to Know

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1 Comments:

At 4:35 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

"Ahmadinejad called for a new global economic system that is based on respecting human rights". This is really funny. President of state famous for its executions for many not very tough crimes, sometimes using stoning, is going to be an advocate of human rights. What is going to be next? Unfortunately, exactly this makes words "human rights" words without any meaning...
Take care, Jay.

 

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