Boycott of Islamic Elections
Potkin
Azarmehr
While every report either from our contacts or
independent reporters suggests a massive boycott of the recent Islamic
elections in Iran, the BBC website is the only news agency which chooses
the headline of "High Iran Poll Turnout Claimed".
What??? Even if we are to believe the official
quoted figure of 30% by the election official, Ahmad Alizadeh, that is
by no means a high turnout. But the truth is once we allow for the
cheating and the false ID cards which President Khatami's brother
highlighted before the elections, the best estimates of the poll turnout
will be around 5 to 10%.
Both major French dailies Figaro and Liberation
stated that Iranian people ignored the ballot boxes and defied the calls
to vote.
Reports even claim that Hashemi Rafsanjani was
blaming Ayatollah Jannati of the Guradian Council for making the
election look such a farce in such a blatant manner. Rafsanjani then
refused to take the Friday sermon in protest and instead Ayatollah
Jannati made the sermon and told the staged worshippers that voting on
the day was as much as a religious duty to Muslims as their daily
prayers.
Iran state TV made a big blunder by showing a busy
polling station but the producers seemed to miss the clear sign on the
ballot boxes which said 'The sixth parliament elections'!
In Marivan, the protests turned into clashes with
the people setting the polling booths on fire and more significantly the
Law Enforcement Forces joining in with the people.
Seyyed Abbas Mossavi, the residing MP for Izeh was
beaten up by the bodyguards of a judiciary official after arguments over
vote rigging and is now in a coma in hospital. Some reports suggest that
he is already dead as a result of his injuries.
The people in Izeh have taken control of the
provincial government buildings, all offices and banks remain shut and
the regime has sent helicopter gunships to take back the control of the
city.
Kiarash Tehrani in an interview with Radio Farda
reported what he saw in Tehran. He said apart from 4 polling stations
where Iranian State TV was present and there seemed to be more people,
the rest of the polling stations were just empty and the election
officials were drinking tea.
He also said, he managed to talk to a 55 year old
who voted and asked him why, he said I am a civil servant and I had
heard the rumour that if I don't vote, I would lose my job.
The Times daily also managed to find a young
Iranian girl who voted. She was worried that if her ID card was not
stamped she would not be allowed to enter university.
So despite all the rumour-mongerings, the false ID
cards, the staged TV polling stations, and the claims that to vote is a
religious duty, the message is clear whether the Islamic Republic
apologists in the BBC like it or not. THE PEOPLE OF IRAN HAVE TOLD THE
WORLD THAT THE ISLAMIC REPUBLIC HAS NO LEGITIMACY AMONGST THEM!
Perhaps the BBC reporters in Iran should be better
trained to go out and look for news rather than sitting in their plush
hotels waiting for the regime to supply them with news and photos.
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