Rohani becomes Iran’s new president

[LuisDantas]

Maybe I missed something? You people sure sound certain.

 

[Jayhawker Soule]

Maybe I missed something?

Yes: a rudimentary understanding of what you're talking about.

 

[InformedIgnorance]

I disagree, IMO it IS a step in the right direction by comparison to the alternatives that were available - it is merely a rather small step (and one that will be relatively meaningless unless his election serves to motivate change in the clerics);

 

[oldbadger]

I wonder why so many ballots were declared invalid?

Wonder away.......... Look at the winning margin.....

 

[oldbadger]

In The Name Of God​

Rohani becomes Iran’s new president

Hassan Rohani has won Iran's 11th presidential election following a vote that saw a massive popular turnout on June 14.

This isn't just 'a step in the right direction'....... this is the best news from Iran in decades, surely?

I hope that Hassan Rohani becomes the best and most successful Iranian President in modern history. What a massive majority!

 

[LuisDantas]

Yes: a rudimentary understanding of what you're talking about.

That was... less that actually useful or respectful.

But hey, at least you are giving people great pointers about how much to trust your judgement.

 

[Flankerl]

You should probably read up on the political and therefore religious system of Iran.

To quote Wikipedia
"Any male Iranian citizen born in Iran, believing in God and the official religion of Iran (Islam), who has always been loyal to the Constitution and is above 21 years of age is allowed to sign up as a presidential candidate. An institution called the Election Monitoring Agency (EMA) and managed by the Guardian Council vets registered candidates (in the 2009 election 36,000 people signed up as candidates) and selects a handful to run in the election. The Guardian Council does not announce publicly the reason for rejections of particular candidates although those reasons are explained to each candidate."

The Guardian Council in return is appointed by the "Supreme Leader".

At the end of the day no candidate for the Presidency that might be a real reformer in the sense that is used in the western world will end up as a candidate. Why? Because of the "Supreme Leader".

Rouhani is an inside man of the people who rule the country, the clerics.



So is it a step towards democracy? lol no.

 

[Jayhawker Soule]

I disagree, IMO it IS a step in the right direction by comparison to the alternatives that were available - it is merely a rather small step (and one that will be relatively meaningless unless his election serves to motivate change in the clerics);

At issue is whether or not ...

All the same, this is certainly a step in the direction of a secular government, which I therefore welcome.

... which it is not, and to suggest such a thing exposes an irresponsible, if not incomprehensible, ignorance of the election process and of cleric Hassan Rouhani (see, also, here). I invite you to find any credible report on or analysis of the election outcome that applauds it as "a step in the direction of a secular government".

On the contrary, you'll find for example ...

On many issues, whether Mr Rouhani can deliver will depend on his relationship with the Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Ayatollah Khamenei is effectively the leader of the Islamic hardliners, and has the last say on many crucial and strategic issues.

But Mr Rouhani is not exactly a liberal either. He has held senior positions for many years. He is an insider.

He is, even today, the representative of the supreme leader at the all-important Supreme National Security Council, which deals with all sensitive security and foreign affairs issues such as the nuclear programme.

While Mr Rouhani needs the hardliners to co-operate, the hardliners need Mr Rouhani to save the regime from the deep trouble it finds itself in as international sanctions and mismanagement of the economy erode its authority at home.

Mr Rouhani seems to be someone the supreme leader might be able to do business with.

And we must not forget that the mandate for change and moderation that Mr Rouhani has received from the electorate represents a big rebuff to the isolationist and extremist policies of the supreme leader. The vote on Friday has considerably weakened Mr Khamenei's position.

- BBC

Or ...

But Mr. Rowhani, 64, is no renegade reformist, voted in while Iran’s leaders were not paying attention. Instead, his political life has been spent at the center of Iran’s conservative establishment, from well before Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini led the Islamic Revolution in the 1970s. And analysts say that Mr. Rowhani’s first priority will be mediating the disturbed relationship between that leadership and Iran’s citizens, not carrying out major change.

Even his nickname — “the diplomat sheik” — is testament to his role as a pragmatist seeking conciliation for the Islamic leadership. Whether in dealing with protesting students, the aftermath of devastating earthquakes or, in his stint as nuclear negotiator, working to ease international pressure as Iran moved forward with its nuclear program, Mr. Rowhani has worked to find practical ways to help advance the leadership’s goals.

Though he is widely seen as a cautious realist, his first leap into Iran’s inner circle as a young man was rooted in risk. In one of his memoirs, Mr. Rowhani describes a perilous journey he took as an 18-year-old seminary student, sneaking across the border into Iraq to meet Ayatollah Khomeini in exile.

At one point, he recounts, a smuggler told him to immediately take off his turban, in order to be less visible inside their car. More dogmatic Shiite Muslim clerics would have ignored such a request, but the young Mr. Rowhani did not hesitate and quickly removed his white turban.

“We arrived safely, and that is what mattered,” Mr. Rowhani wrote.

In the memoir, he argues that ideology must never stand in the way of advancement. In 1979, during the last months of Ayatollah Khomeini’s exile, Mr. Rowhani was part of his entourage in France. “There some people spread leaflets saying Iran must stop buying weapons from the United States, in order not to support their weapons industry,” he wrote. “But I argued that we must not deprive ourselves of modern weapon technology just because it is American.”

While the Iranian leadership considers Islam the basis for all policy, Mr. Rowhani comes from a wing of the clerical establishment that finds Islam to be a more dynamic than rigid code. The thesis he wrote to obtain his doctorate in constitutional law in 1997 from Glasgow Caledonian University in Scotland, according to his personal Web site, was on “the flexibility of Shariah; Islamic law.”

His own pragmatic flexibility in the face of ideology was on display in 2003, when Mr. Rowhani visited the earthquake struck-region of Bam while serving as secretary of the Supreme National Security Council. Despite the tensions with the United States, Iran had allowed Americans to set up an emergency hospital, and Mr. Rowhani made it a point to visit it and take photographs with American doctors.

His memoirs and several other books describe a life as an integral part of the fabric of Iran’s political establishment, forming friendships at an early age with other clerics bound for positions of power and influence within the Islamic republic.

Mr. Rowhani has described a train journey in 1967 that only in hindsight would seem momentous. Along that trip, he befriended a fellow Shiite cleric who is now the influential head of the office of the supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Also on that train was a cleric who would turn out to become the national prosecutor. Another influential friend from the pre-revolution years was Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, a former president whose endorsement helped ease Mr. Rowhani’s road to the presidency.

It is a snapshot in the life of a man set to become an insider in Iran’s small circle of power.

Because of his dedication to political Islam and influential connections, Mr. Rowhani’s star rose quickly. He was the deputy leader of the Iran-Iraq war effort in the 1980s, served in Iran’s Parliament for 20 years, and for 16 years was in charge of the daily management of the security council, one of the country’s most influential agencies. He is currently the head of the Center for Strategic Research in Tehran, which advises both Mr. Rafsanjani and Ayatollah Khamenei.

“His lifelong career shows he has been at the heart of Iranian politics and his goal is to serve the Islamic republic of Iran,” said Ali Shakouri-Rad, a reformist politician. “The very fact he is elected shows that he is very much accepted by our establishment.”

- NYT

To suggest that Rouhani "is certainly a step in the direction of a secular government" Is about as ridiculous as suggesting that the election of Pope Francis is certainly a step in the direction of a secular Vatican.

 

[Jayhawker Soule]

Yes: a rudimentary understanding of what you're talking about.

That was... less that actually useful or respectful.

It was intended to be accurate.

 

[Jayhawker Soule]

This isn't just 'a step in the right direction'....... this is the best news from Iran in decades, surely?

I hope that Hassan Rohani becomes the best and most successful Iranian President in modern history. What a massive majority!

See Why Rouhani Won -- And Why Khamenei Let Him.​

 

[Terrywoodenpic]

You should probably read up on the political and therefore religious system of Iran.

To quote Wikipedia
"Any male Iranian citizen born in Iran, believing in God and the official religion of Iran (Islam), who has always been loyal to the Constitution and is above 21 years of age is allowed to sign up as a presidential candidate. An institution called the Election Monitoring Agency (EMA) and managed by the Guardian Council vets registered candidates (in the 2009 election 36,000 people signed up as candidates) and selects a handful to run in the election. The Guardian Council does not announce publicly the reason for rejections of particular candidates although those reasons are explained to each candidate."

The Guardian Council in return is appointed by the "Supreme Leader".

At the end of the day no candidate for the Presidency that might be a real reformer in the sense that is used in the western world will end up as a candidate. Why? Because of the "Supreme Leader".

Rouhani is an inside man of the people who rule the country, the clerics.



So is it a step towards democracy? lol no.

All political systems select their candidates at party level, the voting system only become democratic at a later stage. (That is if you find the size of the fighting fund democratic)

 

[Jayhawker Soule]

All political systems select their candidates at party level, the voting system only become democratic at a later stage.

It is a ludicrous comparison. Far more comparable would be a system wherein the Conservative and Unionist Party, the Liberal Democrats, and the Labour Party, could only field candidates who had been first approved by the head of the Church of England.

 

[Flankerl]

The parties can select who they want, what matter is if the Supreme Leader likes their choice.

If he doesnt like their choice their selection means nothing.



Hint: This is the difference to western republics.

 

[LuisDantas]

It was intended to be accurate.

So your intent was to insult, not to explain or clarify?

 

[Jayhawker Soule]

My intent was to repudiate irresponsibly absurd claims firmly based upon willful ignorance. Information on the Iranian election and its victor are readily available.

 

[LuisDantas]

I... think I understand your stance now.

I will keep that in mind. And it will most certainly help informing my own stance about Israel.

 

[lewisnotmiller]

I wonder why so many ballots were declared invalid?

Spoilage rates in Australia generally run around 5%. Without knowing about the voting methods of the country in detail, a simple spoilage percentage is not informative about anything.

 

[Flankerl]

I will keep that in mind. And it will most certainly help informing my own stance about Israel.

So anything learned about Iran by now?

 

[YmirGF]

So anything learned about Iran by now?

That the theocracy is alive and well, to such an extent, the population was comfortable electing a cleric to "lead" the country? Yep, that's just spiffy.

 

[oldbadger]

That was... less that actually useful or respectful.

But hey, at least you are giving people great pointers about how much to trust your judgement.

Yes. When Atheists speak positively about new Muslim Presidents, that's just a great and wonderful post to read.

This is a Muslim President who knows the Koran, knows the Koranic law, and recognises how a real 'head-count' majority of his people wish Iran to be in the future.

Excellent ........... I feel like clapping!