Power hungry

The election in Iran has been an eye-opener.

The mullahs who rule came to power on the strength of the vox populi who wanted the Shah removed. The theory was that Iran would be democratic and set their own path.

Thirty years later, Iranians are upset that their election doesn’t look like democracy in action.

But the ruling mullahs have dug in and won’t budge from power. Without transparency, there’s no democracy. And Iranians don’t have transparency in their government from all accounts.

In all this, as I see it, the ruling council is not very different from the monarchy under the Shah. Power is concentrated, citizens are powerless, a casual militant force (apparently not very different from thugs) turns on protesters, and chaos follows.

What a pity that a country with so much history and heritage is denying a voice to its people.