WSJ: Iran's 'Democracy' - A rigged election, no reformist victory.

opinionjournal.com ^ | June 20, 2005 | Editorial

[OESY]

The most astonishing aspect of Friday's presidential vote in Iran is not that the elections will go into a second round but that Tehran managed to convince so many in the West that this is a real demonstration of democracy.

All power is held by Supreme Leader Ali Khameni, his Council of Guardians and the small clique of military officers and businessmen around him. The Council disqualified more than 1,000 candidates before the election, vetting only contestants who support the regime's ideological lines. The example of outgoing "reformist" President Mohammad Khatami, who presided over eight years of economic decline and worsening repression, has proven that the President cannot change anything against the Council's will.

The one number worth parsing in Friday's election is that of voter participation. Many Iranians had called for a boycott as the only way of showing resistance. Knowing this, the mullahs seem to have taken their usual election manipulations to another level. Intimidation by the Revolutionary Guards and the fact that proof of voting is needed for certain jobs and welfare payments have always pushed up turnout....

[T]he main reformist candidate, Mustafa Moin, ...suggested the elections were rigged, but since the regime allows no neutral observers the real extent of fraud or Iranian discontent can't be known....

Shirin Ebadi, the Iranian Nobel Peace laureate, warned the West against offering any concessions to the regime, urging Europe and the U.S. instead to help Iran's democracy movement by highlighting Iran's human rights violations. One day before the vote, President Bush finally reached out to the Iranian people: "Today, Iran is ruled by men who suppress liberty at home and spread terror across the world. Power is in the hands of an unelected few who have retained power through an electoral process that ignores the basic requirements of democracy..."

[alloysteel]

Iran's recent "election" was about as valid as the last "election" that was held in Iraq before Saddam was toppled from power. I believe Saddam managed to win by a margin of 98% of the vote. The other 2% that failed to vote for him were summarily executed.

In Iran, failure to vote is not generally rewarded with such draconian measures. I expect this causes them to be seen as "kinder and gentler" in the eyes of the world. The vote is still fraudulent.

[nuconvert]

"But this time turnout was 62.7%, exactly the level Supreme Leader Khameni had predicted. "Something is fishy here," Patrick Clawson, who follows Iran for the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, told us."

"Something is fishy here,"....Ya think?