Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2004-02-12-Speech-4-121"
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"en.20040212.8.4-121"2
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"Mr President, a clear signal from Tehran is always welcome, and yesterday President Khatami gave one personally. In a speech on the occasion of the 25th anniversary of Iran’s Islamic revolution, the Head of State levelled particularly sharp criticism at the exclusion of a whole host of reform-minded candidates from the parliamentary elections on 20 February. President Khatami said – and my colleague Mr van den Bos has also said this – that elections are a symbol of democracy. The President then warned that ‘if this [right] is restricted, it’s a threat to the nation and the system’. His message to the conservative forces in the Islamic republic is unmistakable. Their repressive actions are destabilising both State and society. Public bitterness is already great and will only increase. What is the lesson that the European Parliament should draw from these unfair elections for the Iranian parliament, the Majlis? If it turns out that the vast majority of the new Majlis consists of arch-conservative, even radical Islamists, we should not set any store by close relations. ‘A sheer waste of taxes,’ a German Iran specialist, who is also a voter, commented to me an hour ago. I think that this is spot on."@en1
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