Blame Iran’s Political System, not President Ahmadinejad

The media headlines are dominated by the results of Presidential elections in Iran. The international community (U.S. in particular) is concerned about manner in which democratic norms have been violated in Iran. The impression gathered by reading the mainstream Western media is that Ahmadinejad is a tyrant who has vilified Iran’s democracy to enforce his rule upon the people. Had Hossein Mousavi emerged victorious the Western world would have been jubilant over the change ushered by the people of Iran in free democratic elections. Had the supporters of Ahmadinejad protested against the victory of Mousavi, the U.S. media would have highlighted their lack of democratic spirit.
According to me there are few discrepancies in the way in which the western media is handling the Iran election issue. It needs to be realized that the POLITICAL SYSTEM in Iran is flawed and non-democratic; merely the victory of Ahmadinejad has not made it less democratic. Neither are the election officials nor the security forces overlooking the polling process in Iran are neutral or apolitical; they are appointed by the Supreme Leader and owe allegiance to him. This flawed election process existed before President Ahmadinejad came to power and would have not changed if Hossein Mousavi was elected the new President.

The fact that the Presidential candidates need to be pre-approved by the Guardian Council makes the entire exercise of democratic elections a farce. The U.S. has not highlighted this anomaly of the Presidential election system in Iran. It appears that the U.S. is not so much concerned with the democratic process in Iran as with the victory of President Ahmadinejad. Moreover, the defeat of Mousavi is being portrayed as loss of a great opportunity to re-cast U.S. – Iranian relations in more cordial terms. The fact of the matter is that no matter who exercises Presidential authority, the Supreme Leader Ali Khaemeni will have the final say in shaping domestic and foreign policy.
As a matter of fact the victory of President Ahmadinejad has been more difficult for the U.S. to accept than the Iranian people. One primary reason for this is the self-created sense that a wave of change was sweeping through Iran during the campaign days. The ‘green revolution’ of Mousavi was given more media space than the support enjoyed by President Ahmadinejad. Flynt Leverett refers to this phenomenon as ‘wishful thinking’ on the part of the Western world. Flynt goes on to assert how the West completely overlooked the fact that President Ahmadinejad was perceived to have won the Presidential debates in the run up to elections.
The media’s selective coverage can be highlighted by referring to the manner in which the results of the Terror Free Tomorrow’s poll were conveyed. Terror Free Tomorrow: The Center for Public Opinion, a NGO, had conducted a nationwide public survey before the Presidential elections. Among the other important conclusions the survey had clearly stated that “a plurality of Iranians would vote for incumbent President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad”. According to the survey Iranians also overwhelmingly favored better relations with the United States. The CNN had run a news piece based on this very report but with the title “Iranians favor peace Deal with U.S.A.”  Though the findings on President Ahmadinejad’s strong claim to the Presidency were referred in the report the emphasis was placed on the desire of the Iranian people to improve relations with the U.S.

Here what Abbas Barzegar of The Guardian wrote about Mousavi and Ahmadinejad’s post-election rallies:

On Monday night at least 100,000 of the former prime minister’s supporters set up a human chain across Tehran. But, hours before I had attended a mass rally for the incumbent president that got little to no coverage in the western press because, on account of the crowds, he never made it inside the hall to give his speech. Minimal estimates from that gathering have been placed at 600,000 (enthusiasts say a million). From the roof I watched as the veiled women and bearded men of all ages poured like lava.

I fully condemn the results of Iran’s elections; not because President Ahmadinejad has won but because the country’s election system is flawed. It’s high time that the U.S. supports the right cause for the right reasons rather than for political convenience.