IraniAdmin
05-15-2009, 12:55 AM
Source: Rooz (http://www.roozonline.com/english/news/newsitem/article/2009/may/14//reforms-like-playing-chess-with-a-gorilla.html)
14 May 2009
Reformist theoretician, Alireza Alavitabar, was the keynote speaker at yesterday’s meeting of the Participation Front (Jebheh Mosharekat), titled “Reforms and the Tenth Election.” In his speech, Alavitabar provided an analysis of the country’s economic, political and social conditions and laid out his reasoning for backing Mousavi out of the remaining candidates.
In the beginning of his speech, commenting on the country’s current condition, Alavitabar said, “It seems to me that, in order to begin our discussion, we must note a few things: first, that the end goal of reforms is to democratize the atmosphere; that goal must not be forgotten. However, we must be careful as to which strategies and tactics we choose at each stage. This depends on the problems we face and the capabilities we have.”
Alavitabar’s second point concerned the “recent emergence of a new class beholden to the state.” He noted that the state has attempted to secure the support of this new wealthy class by splashing the oil money and increasing expenditure from the public budget. The third point brought up by Alavitabar was the extreme leaning toward militarization as an ideology and model of governance. Alavitabar said, “The militarists want to subordinate politics and the state to their power. This trend has grown in the past 4 years. We see more signs of governing society as if it was a garrison, and this has gotten worse even compared to the [Iran-Iraq] war era.”
“Increasing monopoly over power and the individualization of power in Iran’s political structure” was the fourth point discussed by Alavitabar. Noting that, in previous elections, the administrators and supervisors of election were different: “In previous terms, the president was a person from the within the power structure, who had a distinct identity outside government as well. Today, however, a group lacking transparent identity is in power.” Alavitabar spoke about Iran’s “increasing international and regional isolation” as the fifth point of his speech, adding, “We have done things that even the tiniest countries in the region have concluded that now is a good time to extract concessions from Iran.”
Alavitabar’s last point concerned the weakening of the culture of cooperation and tolerance in the country. He said, “Every game, including the game of politics, must adhere to rules. Unfortunately, that is not the case here. We are moving towards a direction where the country’s political scene becomes host to unpredictable behavior, and if this trend continues, this problem will reach an uncontrollable spot.” Alavitabar used his trademark analogy, “Reformist politics is like playing chess with a gorilla.”
After discussing the above points, Alavitabar added, “We now how numerous problems and must look to a force that is different than the force we were previously seeking. This is because we no longer face only an authoritarian force that we can oppose by championing democracy.” Explaining the qualities of a desirable candidate, Alavitabar said, “We must choose a person who can institute strict financial and economic discipline on the nation, put an end to the unending stream of government handouts and expenditure, and who can make a state that depends on oil revenues understand that every Rial must be spent according to a plan. In short, this person must bring back discipline to the Iranian economy.”
This political activist then expanded on the qualities of a desirable candidate, noting that we must elect a person whose behavior is predictable, adding, “In effect, this person’s behavior must be predictable for his supporters, opponents, and the international community. Unpredictable people are able to cause crisis in large parts of society. Such people cannot adequately manage a country’s social resources.”
Alavitabar described the “ability to legitimately oppose militarization” as the desirable candidate’s third quality, noting, “Militarization is a monster that, when let out of the box, cannot be put back into the box easily. We need a person who is able to control militarization without being labeled anti-military.”
Alavitabar listed “having an identity independent from that of the ruling faction” as the fourth quality of the desirable candidate, noting, “Those who do not have that identity are in danger of being beholden to power. A less compatible candidate who has independent identity is preferable to a more compatible candidate without such identity.”
This theorist insisted, “Given the totality of conditions we are facing today and the knowledge we have of the present candidates, we can conclude that it is better to support Mir Hossein Mousavi out of the two remaining reformist candidates.”
Alavitabar added, “Supporting Mousavi does not amount to negating the goodness of the other reformist candidate; but the qualities that I discussed are found in Mr. Mousavi. It may be possible that he does not represent all of our ideals, but exiting the present situation can be achieved through his election.”
14 May 2009
Reformist theoretician, Alireza Alavitabar, was the keynote speaker at yesterday’s meeting of the Participation Front (Jebheh Mosharekat), titled “Reforms and the Tenth Election.” In his speech, Alavitabar provided an analysis of the country’s economic, political and social conditions and laid out his reasoning for backing Mousavi out of the remaining candidates.
In the beginning of his speech, commenting on the country’s current condition, Alavitabar said, “It seems to me that, in order to begin our discussion, we must note a few things: first, that the end goal of reforms is to democratize the atmosphere; that goal must not be forgotten. However, we must be careful as to which strategies and tactics we choose at each stage. This depends on the problems we face and the capabilities we have.”
Alavitabar’s second point concerned the “recent emergence of a new class beholden to the state.” He noted that the state has attempted to secure the support of this new wealthy class by splashing the oil money and increasing expenditure from the public budget. The third point brought up by Alavitabar was the extreme leaning toward militarization as an ideology and model of governance. Alavitabar said, “The militarists want to subordinate politics and the state to their power. This trend has grown in the past 4 years. We see more signs of governing society as if it was a garrison, and this has gotten worse even compared to the [Iran-Iraq] war era.”
“Increasing monopoly over power and the individualization of power in Iran’s political structure” was the fourth point discussed by Alavitabar. Noting that, in previous elections, the administrators and supervisors of election were different: “In previous terms, the president was a person from the within the power structure, who had a distinct identity outside government as well. Today, however, a group lacking transparent identity is in power.” Alavitabar spoke about Iran’s “increasing international and regional isolation” as the fifth point of his speech, adding, “We have done things that even the tiniest countries in the region have concluded that now is a good time to extract concessions from Iran.”
Alavitabar’s last point concerned the weakening of the culture of cooperation and tolerance in the country. He said, “Every game, including the game of politics, must adhere to rules. Unfortunately, that is not the case here. We are moving towards a direction where the country’s political scene becomes host to unpredictable behavior, and if this trend continues, this problem will reach an uncontrollable spot.” Alavitabar used his trademark analogy, “Reformist politics is like playing chess with a gorilla.”
After discussing the above points, Alavitabar added, “We now how numerous problems and must look to a force that is different than the force we were previously seeking. This is because we no longer face only an authoritarian force that we can oppose by championing democracy.” Explaining the qualities of a desirable candidate, Alavitabar said, “We must choose a person who can institute strict financial and economic discipline on the nation, put an end to the unending stream of government handouts and expenditure, and who can make a state that depends on oil revenues understand that every Rial must be spent according to a plan. In short, this person must bring back discipline to the Iranian economy.”
This political activist then expanded on the qualities of a desirable candidate, noting that we must elect a person whose behavior is predictable, adding, “In effect, this person’s behavior must be predictable for his supporters, opponents, and the international community. Unpredictable people are able to cause crisis in large parts of society. Such people cannot adequately manage a country’s social resources.”
Alavitabar described the “ability to legitimately oppose militarization” as the desirable candidate’s third quality, noting, “Militarization is a monster that, when let out of the box, cannot be put back into the box easily. We need a person who is able to control militarization without being labeled anti-military.”
Alavitabar listed “having an identity independent from that of the ruling faction” as the fourth quality of the desirable candidate, noting, “Those who do not have that identity are in danger of being beholden to power. A less compatible candidate who has independent identity is preferable to a more compatible candidate without such identity.”
This theorist insisted, “Given the totality of conditions we are facing today and the knowledge we have of the present candidates, we can conclude that it is better to support Mir Hossein Mousavi out of the two remaining reformist candidates.”
Alavitabar added, “Supporting Mousavi does not amount to negating the goodness of the other reformist candidate; but the qualities that I discussed are found in Mr. Mousavi. It may be possible that he does not represent all of our ideals, but exiting the present situation can be achieved through his election.”