It’s clear that for most of us who rely on video clips from Iran, blogs and foreign TV reports believed that the majority was with the green voters: they’re more outspoken, more visible (especially on the electronic media) and they represent the more liberal views that we also share. We rarely ever hear from the rural areas, we do not hear from the Iranians who are not online, who do not participate in blogs and TV interviews. One 10 mile trip from the south of Tehran to the northern part demonstrates the immense cultural gap in Iran’s society. It shouldn’t come as a surprise to see this silent majority win the election for their candidate, as disappointing as it is for most of us abroad. Could it be that the corruption and the “agha zadeh” thieveries frustrate the Iranian people the most? Could it be that slamming Rafsanjani’s son sounded more pleasant to most Iranians than criticizing Ahmadinejad’s Holocaust denial? I don’t know, I don’t have the numbers and I sure don’t know all the facts.
Of course the millions of green voters represent a huge crowd who can fill the streets and assemble in impressive numbers. This level of uprising was not seen for decades in Iran.
These struggles that you see on the streets today are between the voters and the ruling government.
That’s why the boycotters are irrelevant. If people had agreed with them and boycotted the election by staying home, they would have had no leg to stand on today. The anti Ahmadinejad voters are demanding to be counted, and due to their high numbers they represent a powerful force. Where does that leave the ones who didn’t vote? out in the cold! The ironic part is that this group is now boasting, ridiculing the voters and encouraging the demonstrations which is yet another cowardice stance from the ones who sit at home and cry lengesh kon.
I am also disappointed by the results and I have seen reports that try to scientifically prove fraud: http://tehranbureau.com/2009/06/13/faulty-election… also many political figures, and groups inside Iran, even “rohanioon mobarez” have rejected the results of the election.
Nevertheless, the election was a victory for Iranian people because it’s process opened discussions and put forth a brand new wave in Iran’s political scene. I have no doubt the results were tweaked in favor of the hardliners, but at the most, I would believe a closer set of numbers that would have led to another round.
These are exciting times in our country. People are energized, open and more active in the scene. Iranian century long struggle for democracy and freedom is taking its course and moving forward, bending and defeating the obstacles and social barriers put forth by the ruling regimes. The generation of Iranians who are demonstrating today were mostly born in the last three decades, proving that even with strict Islamic laws and Islamic education, Iran’s fight for freedom cannot be stopped. Nothing will be the same going forward, they might silence this crowd temporarily, but they cannot stop them. I just wish someone qualified was leading these struggles to help the Iranians who cry for freedom and oppose the corruption as well as human rights violations. Unfortunately we have an opposition that keeps missing the boat.
At this point, the question is how these next four years would be different from the last four. Will the ruling hardliners soften up with the knowledge of the growing moderates and fear of being removed from power? will they come down hard on people and take up an even more radical foreign policy?
No matter what, the change is here.
