Archive for the ‘mahmoud ahmadinejad’ tag
That Iranian Election #
Though it looks bad, The Economist argues that it’s not as bad as it looks.
Running on a separate list from the president’s supporters, powerful principlists such as Ali Larijani, Iran’s former nuclear negotiator, attacked Mr Ahmadinejad for the alleged incompetence of his economic management, which has pushed inflation close to 20%, and for needlessly antagonising foreign powers with inflammatory rhetoric. Aware that enthusiasm for the president has waned, even among the provincial poor who make up his strongest constituency, most conservative candidates tried to distance themselves from Mr Ahmadinejad, instead emphasising their closeness to Ayatollah Khamenei.
Iran’s Coming Elections #
The Economist profiles the reality of Iran’s Potemkin village politics which it so often ignored as people love to hate Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
On paper, the 290-seat majlis looks like any other parliament. It drafts laws, ratifies treaties (such as on nuclear non-proliferation) and debates the annual budget. In theory it can remove cabinet ministers and impeach the president for misconduct.
In practice, it plays second fiddle to the Guardian Council. Its dozen members are directly or indirectly appointed by Ayatollah Khamenei; they vet all candidates and can veto parliamentary legislation. In 2003 the majlis passed legislation to limit the constitutional authority of the Guardian Council—which predictably rejected it.