Ahmadinejad is sworn in for a second term

It finally happened. As expected, the political unrest couldn't go far when the with the Ayatollah's hand over Ahmadinejad's "win".

This shows us the true fabric of Iranian society and government - ultimately, it appears that though the public is increasingly democratic-minded, the government is even more repressive and orthodox. However, let's not put this out of perspective. The public unrest isn't hinged so much on on a liberal wave of ideology or Western idealism as much as it is on the fundamental principle of democracy, voting, and political misrepresentation. Many news outlets have been, IMO, misrepresenting the Mousavi campaign as one of hope, change, and liberalism.

Compared to Ahmadinejad, Mousavi may look appealing to a Western observer. However, it's also easy to get carried away in the dizzying appeal of "revolution" to forget Mousavi's true political ideals. As a matter of fact, he has shown himself to be, if anything, anti-Western in his past and more conservative than we may think. Mousavi and his wife played an active role in the success of the Iranian revolution, organizing protests against Shah Mohammad Reza. He also had joined ranks with Mohammed Beheshti and by association, the revolutionary leader, Ruholah Khomeini. He also helped Beheshti found the Islamic Republican Party in 1979 to assist the establishment of the Islamic Republic in Iran and hasten the overthrow of Iran's monarthy. He eventually became the political secretary of the party.

Of course, don't get me wrong - I completely support the movement of the Iranian people and the activism that Mousavi has inspired. I just hoped to point out historical misplacement of media or popular/convenient perception.

This post was inspired by an article on BBC that was intended to explore the international political ramifications of the Ahmadinejad's inauguration, that happened earlier today. I was excited to hear some of the drastic steps the global community was going to take! And I get:

Germany, France, Britain and the US all said they would not be sending letters of congratulation to Mr Ahmadinejad.

Dammmmn. You showed them, Western countries dedicated to democracy and representation! Ouch.