'Lame Duck' Khatami Concedes Defeat To Iran's Hardliners

The Telegraph (UK) ^ | 3-18-2004 | Behzad Farsian/Robin Gedye

[blam]

'Lame duck' Khatami concedes defeat to Iran's hardliners

By Behzad Farsian, in Teheran and Robin Gedye
(Filed: 18/03/2004)

The reformist President Mohammad Khatami of Iran conceded that he had reached the limits of his powers and would be a lame duck head of state until his term ends next year.

He said he was withdrawing two bills that sought to limit the power of the ruling conservative hardliners "so that the few powers that the president still has are not eliminated. "I have met with defeat," he said.

President Khatami: powerless

One of the bills was intended to increase presidential controls in order to limit constitutional violations by the ruling conservatives.

The other was intended to stop the Guardian Council, the hardline constitutional watchdog, from determining who could run in elections. In February's parliamentary poll it barred about 2,500 candidates.

Mr Khatami said he would continue in office until his term expires in June next year, but his admission of political impotence marked the formal burial of the reform movement on whose now-shattered dreams he swept to power in 1997.

"Since last month's elections parliament has been in the hands of a majority of hardline conservatives," said a former Khatami supporter. "He has merely admitted what the public have known since his second term in office began in 2001: his defeat by the conservatives."

Mr Khatami, who has pursued a policy of appeasement towards the conservative opposition, has consistently excused his lack of progress in introducing reformist laws by insisting that he was powerless to stop hardliners interfering with the country's democratic process.

The president is responsible for enforcing the constitution. But any attempts Mr Khatami has made to prevent hardliners shutting down more than 100 liberal publications, blocking reforms and detaining dozens of pro-reform activists have been ignored. Mr Khatami warned the Guardian Council not to "weaken the system".

He said: "People should know that in certain quarters the president is not seen as Iran's top official after the supreme leader, but merely as a co-ordinator among other institutions."

"It's too late for him to do anything," said a 21-year-old student at Teheran University, once a fervent supporter of the president. "The way he handled the election crisis was awful. If he wanted our support, he should have resigned then and not voted in the [parliamentary] elections."

• Mohamed ElBaradei, the chief United Nations nuclear watchdog, said yesterday that he could not rule out the possibility that Iran has a nuclear weapons programme. He said Iran had been developing a nuclear fuel cycle.

"Have they taken the step from that into weaponisation? I am not yet excluding that possibility," he told a US congressional subcommittee.

[Pan_Yans Wife]

ping

[Brilliant]

They need a violent overthrow of their government like the one that took out the Shaw.

[Starve The Beast]

This might not be as bad as it looks. The conservative government in Iran is not popular, and many think that demands by the people for reform may be reaching the boiling point. A reform here and there may let off just enough pressure to keep the hard-liners from being swept from power. By blocking reforms, the conservatives may be hastening a revolution that will liberalize the country.

Of course, this is just speculation. I may be way off base.

[Pan_Yans Wife]

There is no difference between the conservatives and reformers. Khatami, a reformer, cannot blow his nose without the approval of Khomeini and the Guardian Council. Their system of government is a sham.

Time for revolution.

[nuconvert]

Lame? How about Limp?
His brother is 10x the man he is.

His announcements are meaningless.

[blam]

"Time for revolution."

Not one word about riots in this article. Are there riots in Iran???

Police Fire On Kurds In Fifth Day Of Syria Riots

[Pan_Yans Wife]

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/1099983/posts?page=1

[blam]

I read that. If it's happening...it's not being reported. WHY???

[Pan_Yans Wife]

I think two reasons.

First, there may be quiet support from the US, things WAY below the radar, that aren't generating news.

Second, if revolution comes to the second nation on the Axis of Evil list, and Iran falls from within, and then the US embraces a free Iran, BUSH'S LEGACY ONLY GROWS.

The media, British, French, Germans and John Kerry are ALL backing the Mullahs, not the Persians. They are going to try to ignore this, and pray it fails.

[Monty22]

iran, like spain, has chosen defeat in the end.

Is anyone really surprised? Some people here thought iran would 'see the light'. Maybe, but it'll be a nuclear light.

[blam]

"The media, British, French, Germans and John Kerry are ALL backing the Mullahs, not the Persians. They are going to try to ignore this, and pray it fails."

I'm beginning to think we here on FR are being 'over-hyped' about what little is happening.

[Pan_Yans Wife]

I'm not looking for revolution in the streets, today. It isn't my place to determine when the people rise up. But I do think every little step that is taken, is pushing the young people of Iran to the point of making a decision.

Perhaps the fact that the Administration says so very little about Iran, is also a signal that they do not think the time is right, yet.

The concern is the nuclear capabilities. Will the Mullahs hold their people hostage with nukes, like Kim Jong Il has done in N. Korea?

[Rocky]

I think this guy senses that there is soon going to be a revolution and he wants to step out of the line of fire. Who is going to go after a "lame duck" when the shooting starts? He's just playing it safe.

Rebellion in Iran:

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1097144/posts

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1097796/posts