Iranian Clerics Redefine Chutzpa, Jewish Mothers Cringe
Well, this should make some tidal waves in the blogosphere this morning:
Hard-liners have thrown Iran's legislative elections into crisis by disqualifying hundreds of reformist candidates, including more than 80 sitting lawmakers who are allied with the president.
President Mohammed Khatami pledged to fight the move, and reformist members of parliament staged a sit-in protest at the legislature. One lawmaker condemned the decision as a "bloodless coup" by Islamic hard-liners.
Reformist lawmakers were protesting "the illegal decision of the Guardian Council to disqualify prominent reformers who have resisted hard-line dictatorship," said Reza Yousefian, one of those disqualified.
The council, which comprises hard-liners picked by Iran's supreme leader, has disqualified more than 80 incumbent lawmakers, all reformists, from seeking another term in next month's parliamentary elections, the official Islamic Republic News Agency reported.
These kinds of games get played before every Iranian election. The clerics intentionally over-reach so that they can appeal to all those Iranians who desperately cling to the brutal theocracy as the only stable thing in their dark, depressing existence. The reformers promise to fight back. They get back some of what the clerics had never intended to keep anyway, call it a victory, claim to be making progress against the hardliners, and declare that if only they were given more time, they would be able to implement widespread reforms. Nothing changes.
Hard-liners have thrown Iran's legislative elections into crisis by disqualifying hundreds of reformist candidates, including more than 80 sitting lawmakers who are allied with the president.
President Mohammed Khatami pledged to fight the move, and reformist members of parliament staged a sit-in protest at the legislature. One lawmaker condemned the decision as a "bloodless coup" by Islamic hard-liners.
Reformist lawmakers were protesting "the illegal decision of the Guardian Council to disqualify prominent reformers who have resisted hard-line dictatorship," said Reza Yousefian, one of those disqualified.
The council, which comprises hard-liners picked by Iran's supreme leader, has disqualified more than 80 incumbent lawmakers, all reformists, from seeking another term in next month's parliamentary elections, the official Islamic Republic News Agency reported.
These kinds of games get played before every Iranian election. The clerics intentionally over-reach so that they can appeal to all those Iranians who desperately cling to the brutal theocracy as the only stable thing in their dark, depressing existence. The reformers promise to fight back. They get back some of what the clerics had never intended to keep anyway, call it a victory, claim to be making progress against the hardliners, and declare that if only they were given more time, they would be able to implement widespread reforms. Nothing changes.
