Iran Association of Researchers & Teachers of Qom Declares Vote-count Illegitimate

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5 July 2009 :: staff

A group that is thought to be the most important and influential body of clerics in Iran, the Association of Researchers and Teachers of Qom, has reportedly declared the disputed presidential election of 12 June “illegitimate”. The declaration, made by a body of top theologians, based in the holy city of Qom, confirms a deep and possibly irreconcilable split in Iran’s clerical establishment.

According to the New York Times:

The announcement came on a day when Mr. Moussavi released documents detailing a campaign of fraud by the current president’s supporters, and as a close associate of the supreme leader called Mr. Moussavi and former President Mohammad Khatami “foreign agents,” saying they should be treated as criminals.

The Qom declaration puts supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamene’i at odds with a significant number of those whose recognition he needs in order to govern. The declaration also builds on recent revelations that suggest government supporters allegedly printed as many as 20 million extra ballots and gave cash payments to voters.

While the last week has seen the most aggressive efforts by what is shaping up to be a clear Ahmedinejad-Khamene’i camp, supported by the activities of the Basij militia, to criminalize the opposition and establish a true monopoly on power in Iranian politics. Opposition supporters have long criticized Khamene’i for this tendency toward total government, and Ahmedinejad, whose policies have been criticized as extreme even by conservatives among the nation’s community of clerics, appears to fit into that aim.

The Mousavi movement has brought a new awareness of Iran’s constitutional checks and balances both to the Iranian public and to the clerical establishment, some of whom fear the concentration of power in the hands of only one or two individuals. The Association of Researchers had previously called for the nullification of the 12 June elections, due to the widespread public opposition in Iran itself to the management of the process and the disputed outcome.

But the Qom declaration of illegitimacy puts significant new pressure on Khamene’i and Ahmedinejad to not only find a way to legitimize the electoral process itself, but to defend their own ground as legitimate leaders within the Iranian constitutional system. It could also signal serious tactical gains for the Rafsanjani group, which has lobbied against the official results and is thought to be seeking to challenge Khamene’i's rule through the Assembly of Experts.

Using patriotic and moral language, the Association of Researchers questioned the Guardian Council for so firmly backing what appears to be a questionable election process, suggesting such actions have undermined “the dignity that was earned with the blood of tens of thousands of martyrs”.

The Times report observes a mounting thrust of defiance of government dictates:

With heavy security on the streets, there is a forced calm. But each day, slowly, another link falls from the chain of government control. Last week, in what appeared a coordinated thrust, Mr. Moussavi, Mr. Karroubi and Mr. Khatami all called the new government illegitimate. On Saturday, Mr. Milani of Stanford said, former President Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani met with families of those who had been arrested, another sign that he was working behind the scenes to keep the issue alive.

With populism and the clerical establishment aligning to question the legitimacy not only of the election results but of the government resulting from that election, Khamene’i is facing the most serious challenge to a supreme leader’s authority in the 30-year history of the Islamic Republic.

Full coverage on the Iranian election crisis, from Café Sentido:

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