elections is self-defeating and he doesn’t want to see that repeated in the presidential elections next spring.
Reformist supporters vocally called for a boycott of the Majlis elections this spring. A minority of reformists—mostly incumbent deputies—opposed the boycott call. They ran, but did quite poorly in the balloting with so many of their voters staying home.
But Khatami voted that day, March 2. The story of his voting created an uproar and angered the majority of reformists who advocated a boycott. Khatami said at the time that he would later explain his vote.
He waited two months, but finally spoke out last Wednesday.
Essentially, he objected that boycotting produced nothing and was a prescription for failure.
He was harsh on the advocates of boycotts, asserting that they sought to harm the reformist movement, although the boycott movement is entirely reformist. No other political movements in contemporary Iran suggest boycotting the ballot.
Khatami told a gathering, “We [reformists] have given the arena to boycotting groups.
“The first boycotting group is those living abroad who argue that all elections must be boycotted, and the reformist movement must be boycotted, too.
“The second group lives inside this country. It says we [reformists] have boycotted the elections. It intends to harm the remaining part of the reformist movement,”
He said, “We must explain that, first, we are not advocating boycotting, second, boycotting is not necessarily subversive, and, third, there is no problem if someone wishes to vote.”
Khatami did not address next year’s presidential election directly, but it was clear he did not wish to see reformists sitting out that election.
Analysts have noted that Iranian voters tend to go with an opposition candidate when the presidency is up for grabs. When Ali-Akbar Hashemi-Rafsanjani had to retire after two terms in 1997, voters overwhelmingly went with Khatami rather than Ali-Akbar Nateq-Nuri, the anointed successor. When Khatami retired after two terms in 2005, the public picked Mahmud Ahmadi-nejad, the farthest outlier of the seven candidates, and snubbed the establishment candidates of both the right and left. That would seem to give a leg-up next year to a candidate who stands far apart from the Ahmadi-nejad camp.
There are a number of voices calling for Khatami to run next year. Khatami has been silent. But from his speech last week, it appears he wants some candidate from the reformist movement to run.
Khatami also made clear that he believes reformists must run from within the Islamic system and not as opponents of the system, departing from many members of the public who have lost faith in the system since 2009.
Khatami said, “I have repeatedly stated that we regard ourselves as being within the system. If we make criticisms, we are criticizing policies and programs that we want to see revised. We are following a different path from that of those who seek to topple the system.”