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.