Javad Mahzadeh
http://www.irdiplomacy.ir/index.php?Lang=en&Page=21&TypeId=12&ArticleId=5709&BranchId=28&Action=ArticleBodyView
Ahmadinejad never stops shocking the political observers with his measures. By Javad Mahzadeh
The administration known as ’the Ahmadinejadi administration’ has been the ’first’ in many aspects. The first administration whose head uses a helicopter to visit the parliament and takes his bodyguards inside the legislative assembly, the first whose key minister does not know the difference between different types of stock. In the administration of firsts some ministers are dismissed since they were against Ahmadinejad’s close friend and relative, Esfandiar Rahim Masha’i; a minister is compared to ’a peach’ by the president, head of its physical education department is appointed as head of the ministry of energy and its defense minister moves to interior ministry. The Management and Planning Organization is dissolved in this administration, its president says that he even consults with a five-year old kid, while elites are repelled and…
A new feat of the government reported by valid sources in Fars News Agency is the simultaneous dismissal of 40 ambassadors, half of those who are going to be discharged by Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki in order to be replaced by more revolutionary, ’committed’ faces. One can’t stop but think that these would-be ambassadors have probably struggled harder for Ahmadinejad during the elections.
Selection of ambassadors is usually done after studies on the target country, i.e. its regional and cultural state and what the source country wants to achieve through interactions with it. Thus, appointment of ambassadors depends on their knowledge of the target country. Seldom has it happened that an ambassador was dismissed in the middle of his term, unless there was a political, fiscal and moral scandals or a secret deal with the host or a third country. But is this true about any of Ahmadinejad’s ambassadors?
Ahmadinejad’s ’firstness’ in many issues, makes it easier to find out that there is no rule behind his decisions. The tenth administration of Islamic Republic is introducing yet another diplomatic phenomenon. In what appears as a suicidal act, Ahmadinejad and his foreign minister Manouchehr Mottaki think of this as another ’fundamental reform in the ministry of foreign affairs’ and accuse the dismissed ambassadors of ’supporting the rioters’. Of course, when in the president’s lexicon ’dust’ is the word used for protestors and critics, there should be no problem with calling the ambassadors endorsement of reformist candidates or those protesting to the election results as supporting the rioters.
Meanwhile, state-run agencies have reported that new ambassadors –those who believe in the principles of revolution- are going to replace the dismissed ones. A similar measure was adopted by the ninth administration against the ministry of intelligence at its final days bringing many negative reactions. National interests and considerations about these two key ministries do not allow us to discuss the consequences of massive purges in detail however. But in a nutshell, expertise in diplomacy, knowledge of different political systems of thought and detailed familiarity with the situation of the target country are the basics of ambassadorship. Would-be ambassadors usually study extensively on the culture and politics of the target country before starting their term. Being revolutionary, committed and obedient are precious characteristics; however, they are not a requisite for becoming an ambassador.
Unfortunately, the tenth election and its aftermath have led to some measures from the government that sound like nothing but purge and ignorance of our national prestige. It was said that Ahmadinejad has looked at the small circle of Elm va San’at University (where he has taught for years) and his companions in governorship (of Ardebil Province) and mayoralty (in Tehran). This seems to have been repeated in lower layers of the administration.
Fewer changes could have occurred even if a reformist figure had come to power. Strangely all these changes are taking place while Ahmadinejad is still the president, but neither the ministers, nor the deputies are the same. The tenth administration could relatively stand on its principles and agenda and tie the second term to its first, just like Hashemi Rafsanjani and Khatami did and launched their product after eight years. But neither in its first nor in its second term is the Ahmadinejad administration following a certain road map. Musavi’s administration in 1980s earned the title of ’Sacred Defense Administration’, Hashemi’s was the (Re)Construction Administration and the one Khatami presided was named the ’Reform Administration’. But what does Ahmadinejad’s cabinet receive? Apparently nothing.
The ’first’ administration in many issues, has gained the title since it lacks any sort of identity whether in economics, politics, culture and even ethics. This lack of identity is called ’changism’ by Ahmadinejad and considered as a revolutionary trait. But the Islamic Republic has a thirty-year old identity which is the fruit of 100 years of political developments in Iran. Four years from now, Ahmadinejad may call his administration revolutionary, messianic, at people’s service etc. but he should know that it is the observers, not the head of a government, that assign it a title.
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