Elections in Iran

What is happening in Iran?! I keep wanting to write a post about it, but feel like I don’t have a proper grasp on it. So I keep reading news stories and scratching my head.

Last Friday I woke up and went over the Radisson hotel in Cambridge, MA to cast my vote. I even called my mother before hand to make sure I had the correct spelling (in Persian) of Mostafa. At the polling place there was an AP reporter who asked me questions afterward such as, “Do you feel that these elections are free and fair?”; “Do you think the candidates you have to choose from are representative of political spectrum?”; “How do you feel about the call to boycott elections?”

I answered these questions the best I could, warning the reporter that a great deal of my views are informed by my studies, rather than from my Iranian heritage. First of all, no, these elections are not free and fair, but I don’t think I’ve participated in free and fair elections since we elected class presidents in high school. In Iran you have to “have proper respect for Islam” (a la the Guardian Council) and in the US you have to be able to please enough rich people for them to give you the money needed to run an election campaign. So it’s either Islam, or the religion of this country, the creed of the holy Prophet Greenback. So no, they are not free and fair, but as imperfect as it is, I prefer to cast my vote, rather than abstain in protest. 60% of the electorate has been staying home in the US for election after election in this country and it hasn’t made a lick of difference.

Furthermore, with Iran under so much pressure internally and externally, I feel like although I think the Iranian political system needs to be overhauled and restructured, at this point I’d rather let my vote be partially appropriated by hardline conservatives to extol the legitimacy of the system, than have an extremely low voter turnout exacerbate internal tensions and give aggressive external forces an excuse to “liberate” Iran. Perhaps I am wrong about this, but something tells me that most Iranians would prefer these flawed elections and their potential for gradual reform to the kind of democracy the US is dishing out – in the form of unelected 2 ton bombs and freedom to stare into the barrel of a gun.

And, of course these candidates are not representative! But, again, the last time I voted in an election where everyone who wanted to run was on the ballot was in high school. How many times have I stared at a US presidential ballot forced to pick between the lesser of the two evils, rather than a favored candidate…

I think it is the right of people to boycott elections if they want – everyone should be free to show their disapproval or support for the system in the way they deem best. After all, is that not the point of democracy, to think for yourself? Boycott is just not the way I have chosen.

This Friday it is time for yet another choice and I dread the idea of voting for Rafsanjani. I am still unclear how this man suddenly has become a moderate and a pragmatist. Has he moved over to the left or has the relative pool of candidates moved over to the right? Is he referred to as such in the English language press because he supports free-market capitalism? Wasn’t he just on the Expediency Council, the notoriously conservative group that resolves legislative disputes between the parliament and the Guardian Council? What was he doing during the four years the reformist dominated parliament was trying to pass laws to make the system more democratic?

And while Ahmadinejad is extremely conservative, he does look better to some in contrast to a fabulously wealthy Rafsanjani. Not once have I seen an English news story ask how he acquired all this wealth. If they did, their pragmatic candidate might start stinking of nepotism and corruption. Is there an economic layer to this election we are not getting access to? The mainstream press glosses this over because it embraces free market capitalism as an absolute Go(o)d. The left leaning press is usually (not always) unable to soak up economic nuances in any situation that smacks of religion. So what is the deal with Ahmadinejad’s popularity and why are we told that he appeals to the poor? Why doesn’t Moin appeal to the poor? And I don’t accept the artificial connection that poor people are stupid and uneducated and thus mindlessly follow the most conservative religious candidate. That sort of dehumanization of the poor and/or religious is unproductive if we are to try to figure out what is going on and take steps from there. The Pahlavis thrived on that sort of dehumanization as the backbone of their political legitimation and look where it got them.

These are not rhetorical questions, I really would like to know what the deal is… Should I stay home this Friday, or should I do my duty and vote the only possible way to keep Ahmadinejad out of office?

And with all these claims of ballot tampering, was I wrong in telling the reporter that while I thought the Guardian Council’s vetting of candidates was reprehensible, once underway, the elections were real elections (contra the claims of Bush)?

I am posing this post mostly in the way of questions to encourage a dialogue…

*Mana Kia is a PhD student in History and Middle East Studies at Harvard University.