Omid Memarian
Abdolkarim Lahidji, vice president of the Paris-based International Federation of Human Rights Leagues (FIDH) told Rooz in an interview that the only path out of the current crisis in Iran was to annul election results and hold fresh elections under conditions acceptable to the people.
Lahidji said, “The fact that communication channels were blocked since the day before the election, the stationing of a large police and security force on election day in the city, the creation of an atmosphere of terror for the people, and foreign and domestic media, are all indicative of the fraudulent nature of this election. Government officials had said before the election that they had prepared about 57 million voting ballots. How come then that on the evening of election day many cities did not have enough ballots? What happened to the 11 million additional ballots that were printed beyond the official number of registered voters? What happened to those ballots?”
Noting that the recent election was not credible, vice president of the FIDH said, “They themselves announced that the candidates can have representatives when ballots are cast and counted. But then they kicked the representatives of the three challengers out of polling stations. Before the Guardian Council was able to confirm the election results the Islamic Republic Supreme Leader praised the election and announced Ahmadinejad as the president. Please note that he did that before his own Guardian Council could comment on the election.”
Lahidji continued, “FIDH has announced that this election is annulled. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad received 5.7 million votes in the first round last year and, with all the cheating, received only 16 million in the second round. Only 60 percent of the people participated in that election. How is it possible that he received so many votes this time given his horrible performance in various areas, social and political and economic repression – in a young society that has many demands – and the participation rate of over 80 percent? How can he received four or five times as many votes as the last election?”
Lahidji emphasized, “As a lawyer, I say that the only solution is to annul the election and hold a new one. Otherwise, I predict difficult years ahead for the Iranian people. We are afraid that the Iranian regime would engage in mass killings. This regime has shown its capacity for violence in the past and does not excuse anyone or any group. In order for people to free themselves from this situation and realize their demands, there is no option other than to annul the election and hold a new one under conditions that are acceptable to the public”.