Democracy of faith

Vox populi, vox dei isn't quite so straightforward for the Islamic Republic of Iran.

The voice of the people as expressed through the ballot box may not always be in tune with the voice of God as interpreted by the Council of Guardians, the body of clerics presiding as the country's highest legislative authority.

In strictly secular terms, the mandate delivered by the Iranian people in the just-concluded elections has no doubt been marred by the banning of over 2,000 reformist candidates, including 87 members of the outgoing 290-seat Parliament.

But the boycott called by opposition politicians has not been heeded to a point where the vote can be deemed a farce. The conservatives allied to the theocratic elite have got a comfortable and legitimate majority in the legislature, whether the world likes it or not.

The result, however, may not be as bad as it seems. Iran's newly elected "hardliners" would not have been deaf to the massive student demonstrations of the last few years. Nor can they afford to ignore the drift of the electorate towards the reformist parties, particularly after the election of President Mohammad Khatami, who won by a landslide in 1997. Rhetoric apart (though this can still send chills to Western observers and moderate Muslims alike), the conservatives do not constitute a single bloc dedicated to emulating the Taliban.

There are enough differences between them to sustain hope of a modernizing Iran that will not stray too far from the strictures of Ayatollah Khomeini's 1979 revolution. Their clout could yet bring the clerics around to more pragmatic social, economic and foreign policies. -- New Straits Times, Kuala Lumpur