Raisi’s Lies, Rouhani’s Faults
Raisi’s Lies, Rouhani’s Faults: Ebrahim Raisi has made numerous comments on various topics during his press conference with the media, but his statements about reducing inflation have particularly stirred reactions, except among his supporters in conservative media.
Meanwhile, in a survey conducted by ISNA among political activists regarding Raisi’s performance over the past year, almost all of them pointed to the unified power as an advantage of Raisi’s government, accusing him of lacking a practical plan to solve problems, having ineffective ministers, failing to reduce inflation, being uncoordinated in the economic team, and not fulfilling election promises.
Although Raisi, like every president in their first year at the Pasteur seat, blames the previous government and president for the existing problems, this idea seems to no longer resonate with the public. However, the situation has become so dire due to the unified power that even a provincial judiciary head has abandoned the principle of separation of powers and appears as a government ally.
The head of the judiciary in Hamadan, regarding the water cut-off and public protests in the city last week, stated that these shortcomings, not only concerning the water issue but in all areas, have been imposed on the thirteenth government by the previous one, and the thirteenth government is forced to answer for all the previous government’s failures. If this had happened during Rouhani’s government, at best, the judiciary head would have remained silent, and in other cases, there would certainly have been some criticism or sarcasm directed at the government for its inability to solve the people’s problems.
Our Iran and Their Iran
A few days ago, the Asr Iran website and yesterday’s Shargh newspaper wrote about an Iran where Raisi and his conservative supporters live, which seems to be miles apart from the Iran where the rest of the people reside. Asr Iran, referring to an article in the Kayhan newspaper that claimed the country’s economic indicators were improving and that Iran’s economy had been experiencing continuous improvement over the past three years.
It wrote that Kayhan cannot be blamed because it lives in the second Iran, and it is obvious that any criticism, warning, or protest about the country’s economic and social situation is considered as darkening, conspiracy, and deception by mysterious forces aiming to destroy the current grandeur, growth, and all-around development of the country.
Those living in the first Iran, who are dissatisfied with their situation, have only two options: either change their mindset and perspective and view the world and issues like Kayhan to see the reality of Iran, or follow the suggestion of the female presenter on the Ofogh network, which is for anyone who doesn’t think like Kayhan to pack up and leave Iran, end of story.
Shargh, in response to Raisi’s press conference, wrote: To be honest, I’m seriously thinking about writing a letter to Mr. Raisi and asking him to take me to where he lives. The reality is that Mr. Raisi lives in one Iran, and we, the people, live in another. In Mr. Raisi’s Iran, the country is in its best state in terms of management, and even records have been broken there. In the people’s Iran, however, the situation needs no description, and we are living it.
Shargh also criticized the repetitive idea of Raisi’s advisors blaming the previous government, writing that his advisors resorted to the same old idea of past presidents, calling the previous ones the cause of shortcomings. The difference is that Mr. Raisi played the same tune for all his predecessors without distinguishing between them, forgetting that he himself had previously said that we should not constantly blame the previous government and presidents for shortcomings and should instead say what we have in store for running the country.
The Bandwidth Lie
Azari Jahromi, the former Minister of Communications, also responded to Raisi’s statement about the issues with infrastructure development under the previous government as the reason for the current reduction in internet speed, by conducting a survey where 78% of respondents disagreed with the president.
He wrote on his personal channel that it’s a significant achievement for us that concepts like 128 kilobit per second internet being sufficient for the Iranian people, or the development of the third and fourth generation of mobile phones being considered against sacred law, or bringing the internet to villages being labeled as implementing the 2030 agenda, have been changed to the slogan of multi-megabit internet for homes. It’s a source of great joy that the thirteenth government considers the actions of the previous government insufficient. May God help them in executing what they have promised.
Amir Nazemi, Azari Jahromi’s deputy, also responded on Twitter to the accusation made by Seyed Ebrahim Raisi about the reduction in internet speed due to infrastructure problems left by the previous government, writing: Today, when the heavy burden of online education is no longer on the internet network, and in recent months the peak bandwidth consumption of operators and the network load has decreased, how do you attribute people’s complaints about internet quality to past negligence?
Moazzi, the communications director of the twelfth president’s office, also tweeted that a detailed explanation refuting the recent claims of the thirteenth government officials regarding the reasons for the significant decline in internet quality over the past year is available in Azari Jahromi’s interview with the Sekkeh podcast. What matters in this regard is paying attention to the public’s demands and addressing internet disruptions.
The Inflation Lie
Raisi’s statements about reducing inflation have drawn reactions both from his electoral rival and a political activist and journalist. Abbas Abdi, in response to Raisi’s statement at the press conference that the 60% inflation in September 2021 has dropped to 40% this September, wrote: Such reporting is unworthy of any government official. The point-to-point inflation in September 2021 was 44%, and this year’s September hasn’t ended yet to announce its statistics.
This year, inflation was 54% in July and 42% in August. Hemmati, the former central bank governor, also tweeted: I previously said that the deceleration of the inflation rate in August after the inflation shock of removing the 4200 currency in June and July is the natural behavior of shock absorption in the economy. These types of inflation shocks, mostly stemming from cost pressures, quickly subside after a surge. The trend of the persistent part of inflation will be the basis for evaluating the government’s role in controlling inflation.
Meanwhile, the state-run Iran newspaper, which with every cabinet change, regardless of reformist, moderate, or conservative, is forced to support the policies of the incumbent government, has attributed the protests and criticisms against Raisi to attempts to undermine the government, writing that as soon as the thirteenth government’s press conference with the media began, the attacks from some well-known government critics started.
A look at the tweets of the detractors in virtual spaces shows malice and merely an effort to criticize the government, as their understanding of the president’s words is mistaken, and the statistics they have provided are incorrect.