Omid Memarian
o.memarian@roozonline.com
Seyyed Mohammad Ali Abtahi, the chief of staff to former president Khatami, speaks to Rooz about the decision to eliminate reformist candidates ahead of the upcoming March 14 Majlis elections: "My belief is that the government never intended to let us participate in the Majlis elections and it announced this last week."
I asked him why the administration chose to disqualify candidates through the Ministry of Interior's Executive (Elections) Committees, rather than to wait for the Guardian Council to vet the candidates and bear the cost. His response was, "The issue is not about bearing the costs. The issue is the existence of radicals in the administration. Military commanders and those affiliated with the radical, hardliner movement now serve as our governors and supervisors. The administration is not afraid to bear the cost of disqualifying candidates. There was a time when the government shied away from doing things like that, but the current administration actually prefers to take responsibility for disqualifying reformist candidates."
When I asked Abtahi if, given the country's sensitive international standing, the administration's move to disqualify scores of candidates and alienate large segments of the population is rational, he responded: "These sorts of considerations [that the public must not be alienated] used to be taken into account during Mr. Khatami's time. Now, these issues are irrelevant and not discussed." I asked him what had changed. "Officials in the current administration believe that the regime is secure and anyone who works in the regime must work to consolidate its power; otherwise, he is not needed," he said.
Commenting on the disqualification of scores of prominent reformist candidates, Abtahi said, “By laying off managers from all levels in the government during the past 2 years, it seemed like the administration was attempting to institute a system in which no one would be left to criticize it. It was natural for them to look at elections through the same mindset. Perhaps the massive disqualifications were surprising to segments of the conservative faction, but at the same time, the general framework of disqualifications was a framework that was talked about openly and repeatedly by officials in the administration ever since the new group took office."
Abtahi noted the composition and background of officials employed in the administration: "The executive branch is currently synonymous with the most hardline elements in the regime. This includes governorships, country and local governments. In reality, the most radical people have been in charge of the executive administration in the past two or three years. They have even more zeal to disqualify parliamentary candidates than the Guardian Council."
When I asked Abtahi about the reformists' future plans, he said, "I believe that the reformist movement must actively participate in the election process even if we are forced to pick unknown candidates." Khatami's former chief of staff concluded, "We will try to get the highest possible number of votes given our number of candidates."
