Khatami Proposes 'Reconciliation' to 'Block the Path to Overthrow': I Did Not Vote Intentionally

A few days after the elections in the Islamic Republic, in which the majority of the Iranian people did not participate, Mohammad Khatami, the former president, confirmed in a meeting with his advisors that he did not vote. According to the Jamaran website on Wednesday, March 7, Khatami stated that he did not vote 'intentionally and honestly' and 'decided to be in harmony with the multitude of dissatisfied people.' He claimed that 'low-cost and beneficial reform' is the demand of 'most people.' This is the first time Khatami has not participated in the elections of the Islamic Republic. In this meeting held on Tuesday, March 6, he said that his decision not to vote was in hopes of restoring 'the damaged trust of the people' in the Islamic Republic and 'political currents including reformism.' A year after nationwide protests and chants for the overthrow of the Islamic Republic in the streets of Iran, Khatami claimed that overthrowing the government would bring 'great harm' to both 'the government and the people,' and he considered 'national reconciliation' as the solution to 'block the path to overthrow.' The former president had previously urged people to participate in the 2017 presidential election, which became known for its 'repetition.' In earlier elections, Khatami's messages had led to the victory of reformists, a method that has lost its appeal based on the results of subsequent elections. Khatami's recent claim about the people's demand for 'reform' comes at a time when in the previous presidential election, Abdolnaser Hemmati, the reformist candidate, ranked fourth after Ebrahim Raisi, invalid votes, and Mohsen Rezaei, receiving only two million four hundred thousand votes according to official reports. While Ali Khamenei had previously deemed a 40% participation rate in elections in some countries as 'a disgrace,' state media announced shortly after the end of the voting period that participation in the elections on March 2 was over 40%. Some observers have estimated that the actual participation in this election was much lower than the announced figure; for instance, Mohammad Hassan Qadiri Abiyaneh, a principlist diplomat, stated that public participation was 'less than 10%.' Previously, two independent polling institutes abroad - Goman and Estasis - had estimated participation in the elections to be below 30%. The elections were largely boycotted by the majority of Iranians, who labeled it a 'show' and an 'election circus.'