I will let you decide it with your hits, readers:
"Iran’s leader talks of nationwide referendums" by Thomas Erdbrink, New York Times January 05, 2015
TEHRAN — Iran’s president said Sunday that he might invoke a powerful but neglected tool in his fight with hard-liners, suggesting the possibility of organizing direct referendums that would bypass the institutions the conservatives control and give more of a voice to Iranian voters.
President Hassan Rouhani, speaking during a conference on the country’s economic problems, said that Iranians were entitled to have major issues put to a nationwide vote, as described in the 1979 constitution.
“It will be good to, after 36 years, even for once, or even every 10 years if we implement this principle of the constitution, and put important economic, social, and cultural issues to a direct referendum instead of to the Parliament,” Rouhani said.
Iran is in negotiations with the United States and other world powers on ways to curb its uranium enrichment program, which the West fears could be used to build atomic weapons. Rouhani, who has pushed for a deal that would ease foreign sanctions on his country, made no direct reference to the possibility of a referendum on a nuclear accord.
In the largely opaque world of Iranian politics, Rouhani’s remarks are a clear warning to hard-liners, who control the Parliament, key decision-making councils, the state-run media, the security forces, and the intelligence services, but who have a shrinking base of support in the country.
Why do I feel like they are talking about my government?
The last time their candidate won a presidential election, in 2009, angry middle-class Iranians accused the government of fraud and took to the streets for months in protest.
Those protests were CIA sponsored as in 1953.
At the time, the protest movement’s unofficial leader, former prime minister Mir Hussein Moussavi, also called for organizing a direct referendum. He has been under house arrest since 2011.
Any popular referendum would be troubling to hard-liners because it would be likely to produce results reflective of the changes in Iranian society. These days, most Iranians are urbanized, according to official figures, and seemingly less interested in the radicalism promoted by some Iranian leaders.
What is funny is the Globe editorial board has advocated against them in the state! Bad way to govern, they say.
Because most Iranians are not allowed to organize themselves, or to form parties or even social groups, their opinions are often muffled by official ideological pronouncements and propaganda.
The NYT sure is one to talk! I suppose that is why I'm sick of this sh**.
“The president is threatening the hard-liners that he is not afraid to use such a powerful tool,” said Farshad Ghorbanpour, a political analyst close to the government. Ghorbanpour said that most people supported the president’s desire for change, and that a referendum would reflect that.
“If hard-liners, for instance, want to disagree with a nuclear deal, Mr. Rouhani could call for a referendum, putting a potential deal before a nationwide vote,” he said.
While the hard-liners control Parliament, and a referendum would have to be approved by two-thirds of the lawmakers, just by proposing such a measure Rouhani would put enormous pressure on his opponents.
“If they would say no to a referendum proposed by the government, it would mean they would say flat out no to the people,” Ghorbanpour said.
On Sunday, though, hard-liners seemed unfazed by Rouhani’s threat. “The president is simply trying to keep the people’s minds preoccupied with new ideas,” said Hamid Reza Taraghi, an analyst with close ties to the conservative coalition of Shi’ite clerics and commanders. “In reality it is not easy at all to organize a referendum.”
In another jab at his rivals, Rouhani repeated his criticism of organizations controlled by hard-liners that engage in often very lucrative economic activities but refuse to pay taxes.
“Everyone should pay taxes,” Rouhani said. “This government, without being afraid of anybody or any institution, will tell the story to the people when it is about people’s interests.”
In his speech, Rouhani said the nuclear negotiations are a matter of heart, not just centrifuges.
Ahead of talks next week in Geneva, he signaled that his administration remains open to negotiation with the six-nation group leading the talks.
If ‘‘we are ready to stop some types of enrichment that we do not need at this time, does it mean we have compromised our principles and cause?’’ Rouhani asked, in remarks reported by the Associated Press.
He then answered his own question: ‘‘Our cause is not linked to a centrifuge. It is connected to our heart and to our willpower.’’
On Jan. 15, Iranian negotiators will meet in Geneva with officials from the United States, Russia, China, Britain, France, and Germany, hoping to resolve the details of a final deal.
Iran reached an interim, one-year deal with world powers in November 2013 to freeze its nuclear program in exchange for the easing of some sanctions. Negotiators later agreed to extend talks until June 30, with hopes of reaching the outline of a deal in March.
--more--"
I think a deal would not only be in U.S. interests, but would be great simply because it would defy Israel.
