Raisi Government Lacks Vision And Plan For Iran – Pundit

Amid conflicts between Iran’s two main political camps and an election on the horizon, a prominent commentator says the hardliner president has no plan for the country.

In an interview published Saturday, influential reformist pundit Abbas Abdi criticized the government of President Ebrahim Raisi -- hailing from the ultraconservative or the so-called principlist camp -- claiming that it lacks any plan or vision for governing the country.

Abdi said Raisi had announced during the 2021 election campaign that he had a 7,000-page plan for solving Iran's pressing issues, but now after 30 months, his government says it has a limited plan for certain issues. "Seven lines would have been enough to understand what you intend to do," Abdi retorted and argued that the government is evaluated by its actions and results, pointing out that the economic situation proves they do not have any concrete plans that would yield tangible results.

Mocking the government’s strategies, he said if you compile remarks by the top economic decision-makers --including the president himself, his economy minister, the Central Bank Governor, and the head of the Planning and Budget Organization --, you can see there is not a single practical plan to address the country’s woes.

As an example, Abdi, who is allowed to comment on various issues in the government-controlled media, mentioned that when the inflation rate is over 40 percent, how the government can justify raising wages by less than 20 percent. He noted that the government claims economic growth, but the people are increasingly sinking into poverty. "Why doesn't this economic growth benefit the people? Where does the rest of the money go?" he asked. The root cause of such problems is the government’s inefficiency, he stated. 

Highlighting an expected low turnout in the upcoming parliamentary elections, he said people do not care about the election because they have seen that nothing can change the status quo. “Elections, in and of themselves, may not be significant; rather, their importance lies in the consequences and results. When people see that in the previous election, representatives who lacked competence were elected – even a lawmaker with two doctorates who struggles with basic legislative terms – questions arise about the quality of the parliament they have formed.” 

Abdi also criticized the ruling hardliners for removing political rivals, claiming that such a lack of diversity will further damage the country’s political dynamism. Earlier this month, Iran’s clerical watchdog, the Guardian Council, rejected a large number of potential candidates, including many current lawmakers, who sought to run for a seat in the March 1 parliamentary elections.

The disqualifications are in line with a wider purge of critics of the ruling hardliners, known in Iran as “purification.” Various organizations and institutions have faced purges as hardline elements of the regime sideline their rivals. The notion of "purification" was initially coined by former Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani to describe the actions of ultraconservative allies of President Raisi, aiming to consolidate government power by marginalizing other politicians and officials, who are also regime insiders.

Abdi underlined the influence of a political faction in Iran's executive bodies and oversight committees that does not embrace the principle of republicanism. Implicitly addressing the reasons behind the ruling faction's rejection of the parliamentary candidates, he stated, "Ideologically, they may not align with republicanism, but in practice, they recognize that without a certain level of support from the ballot box, their survival is at risk.”

Meanwhile, the leader of ultra-hardliner Paydari Party, whose members occupy almost all key posts in state organizations and offices, defended the political trend, claiming that "purification" is just a code word coined by enemies to impose Western ideals of democracy on Iran. Mahsouli emphasized that the “righteous people” should take the helm of the country and defined ‘righteous’ as the most deserving.

"The opposing faction claims that by 'righteous’ we mean purification, but I argue that purification is a code name for the dominance of Western-leaning individuals... Even the moderates and reformists who criticize us are seeking the most deserving people, but their criteria are different and based more on a secular perspective,"Mahsouli said.