Iran: A Question of Accountability

By Chandra Muzaffar

While acknowledging that the total number of votes cast in some 50 districts had exceeded the total number of voters in those districts, the Iranian Council of Guardians maintains that the re-election of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was legitimate. A lot of fair-minded people inside and outside Iran will not be convinced.

The 646 electoral irregularities cited by Ahmadinejad's opponents ― from ballot box stuffing to the sealing of ballot boxes before voting commenced to the expulsion of their polling agents from polling stations ― are so serious that they warrant a full and free investigation into the conduct of the entire election.

Every ballot should have been re-counted, the ballots should have been counter-checked against the electoral rolls and the names and identities of the voters should have been verified in the presence of not only the agents of all the four presidential candidates but also representatives of some non-Western electoral democracies.

Such an open, transparent and comprehensive recount would have eliminated the doubts and suspicions that persist in the minds of so many people about the outcome of the presidential election of June 12.

Instead of demonstrating its commitment to accountability in the truest sense of the term, the Guardian Council chose to scrutinize only a small number of allegations of electoral malpractices and examined only 10 percent of the votes cast.

The impression one gets is that the Council is determined to ensure that the election result that gave a huge victory to incumbent Ahmadinejad is maintained at all costs.

Its stance is similar to that of the Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei who showered accolades upon Ahmadinejad's triumph the day after the election even though there were numerous protests over the outcome from respected figures such as former President Muhammad Khatami.

Indeed, Khamenei went further six days later in his Khutbah Jumaah (Friday Sermon) and harshly denounced protests against alleged electoral fraud.

By coming out so strongly against Ahmadinejad's opponents, the supreme leader compromised the integrity of his high office and sullied his own public image.

Khamenei's biased attitude and Ahmadinejad's tarnished victory have in fact widened the rift within the ruling class itself. There are perhaps more clerics and senior political personalities opposed to the Khamenei-Ahmadinejad rule today than before the election.

This cleavage within the ruling religious-cum-political establishment may well turn out to be the single most significant consequence of the flawed Ahmadinejad electoral triumph. Even if it does not lead to immediate changes, it is obvious the ruling clique has lost a great deal of moral authority.

Its brutal suppression of the mainly young voices of protest has alienated it from a significant segment of the populace. Its apparent lack of honesty and accountability vis-a-vis the recent election has undermined its credibility with its own people and with the world at large.

How long will such a clique lord over its people when it has sacrificed principle for power?

Dr. Chandra Muzaffar is president of the International Movement for a Just World (JUST). He can be reached at muza@just-international.org.