Sunday
Jun212009
Iran: Can Speaker of the Parliament Ali Larijani Prompt a Solution?
Sunday, June 21, 2009 at 19:02
The Latest from Iran (21 June): Does the Fight Continue?
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In the context of Speaker of the Parliament Ali Larijani's manoeuvring this weekend within the Iranian Government , both to defend the system and to criticise aspects of it (see 0745 and 1010 GMT in our updates for 21 June), two vital articles have been posted. Tehran Bureau has posted an informative and interesting profile of the Speaker of the Parliament, a "conservative pragmatist".
The profile has an intriguing postscript. When you try to access Larijani's website, you get the message, "Account for domain www.larijani.ir has been suspended." (We just checked, and that is still the case.)
And, on the current issues, Juan Cole has posted the US Government's Open Source Center summary of Larijani's interview with state-run IRIB 2 TV this morning. It provides a fascinating update of our posts: Larijani gave an explanation of "why more votes were cast for Mahmud Ahmadinejad", but he then expressed concern that a review of the election would be difficult, as members of the Guardian Council had taken political positions: "I think that it was better for them not to take sides (in favor of Ahmadinejad)."
Significance? Larijani is not calling for an overturning of these electoral results but --- as a "conservative pragmatist" --- looking for reforms of the system so that the process cannot be questioned again: "This issue can be used as experience for the next elections." (Larijani's call for an investigation of security services' behaviour in raids of universities should be seen in the same light, seeking to restore public faith in institutions.)
I think Larijani is a skillful politician. However, I think that he may be too late in his manoeuvres. His call for reform "for the next time" might have been viable days ago. But, after the Supreme Leader's Friday address and Saturday's violence, the pragmatist may be stranded in the middle of a political situation that is increasingly polarised and offers only all-or-nothing resolutions.
Receive our latest updates by email or RSS- SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FEED
In the context of Speaker of the Parliament Ali Larijani's manoeuvring this weekend within the Iranian Government , both to defend the system and to criticise aspects of it (see 0745 and 1010 GMT in our updates for 21 June), two vital articles have been posted. Tehran Bureau has posted an informative and interesting profile of the Speaker of the Parliament, a "conservative pragmatist".The profile has an intriguing postscript. When you try to access Larijani's website, you get the message, "Account for domain www.larijani.ir has been suspended." (We just checked, and that is still the case.)
And, on the current issues, Juan Cole has posted the US Government's Open Source Center summary of Larijani's interview with state-run IRIB 2 TV this morning. It provides a fascinating update of our posts: Larijani gave an explanation of "why more votes were cast for Mahmud Ahmadinejad", but he then expressed concern that a review of the election would be difficult, as members of the Guardian Council had taken political positions: "I think that it was better for them not to take sides (in favor of Ahmadinejad)."
Significance? Larijani is not calling for an overturning of these electoral results but --- as a "conservative pragmatist" --- looking for reforms of the system so that the process cannot be questioned again: "This issue can be used as experience for the next elections." (Larijani's call for an investigation of security services' behaviour in raids of universities should be seen in the same light, seeking to restore public faith in institutions.)
I think Larijani is a skillful politician. However, I think that he may be too late in his manoeuvres. His call for reform "for the next time" might have been viable days ago. But, after the Supreme Leader's Friday address and Saturday's violence, the pragmatist may be stranded in the middle of a political situation that is increasingly polarised and offers only all-or-nothing resolutions.
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