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Doubts can stop only after repeat presidential election in Iran

Politics Materials 19 June 2009 00:02 (UTC +04:00)

Azerbaijan, Baku, June 18/ Trend , T.Jafarov, T.Konyaeva /

Doubts in Iran about the results of the presidential election will not dissipate through one recalculation, because there are some doubts in the election process itself. "Presidential candidates Mir Hussein Muosavi, and Mehdi Karroubi require not only recalculation, but also re-election, referring to numerous violations in the voting," Iranian expert Isa Sakharkhiz told Trend by telephone from Tehran.

The presidential election which was held under the organization of the Iranian Interior Ministry and under the supervision of the Guardian Council on June 12, was won by Mahmoud Ahmadinejad who obtained 63.6 percent of the votes.

Mehdi Karroubi and Mir Hussein Muosavi demanded repeat presidential election. The head of the control committee at the electoral headquarters of Muosavi, Ali Akbar Mohtashamipur, said to press conference on June 17 that it needs to create a "committee, investigating the truth" to re-examine the whole process of voting.
Sakharkhiz doubted the success of this committee, if established.

"Establishment of a committee to investigate the truth will be successful if the members of the committee will be independent persons," said Sakharkhiz, adding that the members should not experience any obstacles.

Guardian Council of Iran is one of the Guardian authorities of the country. The Council consists of 12 members. Of the members of the Guardian Council, six are appointed by the Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, and other six are lawyers. They are presented to the Parliament by the Ministry of Justice, and their credentials are confirmed by the Parliament. Guardian Council approves all bills of Parliament, as well as the powers of the candidates in the elections held in the country, except municipal elections. The Minister of Justice of Iran is appointed by the supreme leader of the country.
In addition, Khamenei's lighting congratulation to Ahmadinejad on his re-election indicates that the Guardian Council will not maintain neutrality during recalculation. Mohtashamipur doubts that the Guardian Board will make a correct decision, and stressed the importance of establishing a committee to investigate the truth, which should include independent, reliable and influential people.
Former MP from conservatives, Iranian expert Imad Afrug thinks that the Guardian Council is a state body, but recalculation should be made by an independent organization. "The whole voting process should be re-investigated," Afrug told Trend .

But according to Sakharkhiz, only the establishment of a committee will not solve all problems. "Maybe agreeing to establish a committee to investigate the truth, in order to gain time, the government will try to deceive the people, thus not taking anything for transparent elections," said Sakharkhiz. He stressed that currently it is not worth talking about recalculation of votes because the candidates have not provided statistics of the votes in each urn. "It is possible that the ballot boxes were replaced, since the observers did not participate in calculation of the ballot boxes," said Sakharkhiz.

In many cities of Iran, millions of people hold protests against the results of voting in the presidential election. Participants of the actions faced brutal actions of the government. Officially it was confirmed that 13 participants of the actions were shot.

U.S. expert, Professor of Anthropology at Washington University, Bob Canfild, said that Iranian administration wants the legitimacy of having won an election without actually having allowed a true election to take place. "The administration's behavior reveals that they cannot bear to have the public reject them openly, so they are using violent means to contain the obvious outrage that permeates the society," Canfild said. 

Canfild stressed that they want to seem legitimate in "democratic" terms without being willing to subject
themselves to an open electoral process. "So I presume they would manipulate whatever agency was assigned to oversee the process," said Canfild.

Sakharkhiz considers that the government deceives the people, and it must not retreat. "The presidential candidates must take steps within the law to restore their rights violated. If the committee to investigate the truth begins activity, the candidates should not suspend activities in other directions."

According to experts, if the Iranian authorities would not be respectful to the people, unstable situation will appear in the country. "Despite the religious beliefs of the Iranian people, they have lost confidence in the religious leadership. The people do not believe the regime of Ayatollah because the religious leadership of Iran is abusing the Islamic religion, and people know this. The Iranians could overthrow the existing regime, as they did in 1978-1979," said the American expert.

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