Firstly, one should make a distinction between “what the government seeks to do” and “what the government can do”, and secondly, there should be no doubt about the government’s will to open up the political atmosphere of the country, pointed out the English-language paper in its Opinion column.
August 4 marked the first anniversary of the government of President Hassan Rouhani in office and over the past week, political factions gave their assessments on the government’s performance during this period, it noted.
In their analyses, supporters of the government highlighted economic achievements, the policy of détente, the halt in the growing trend of imposing sanctions and the partial removal of some embargoes on the country, and the progress in nuclear talks with the P5+1. However, they clearly preferred not to talk about government’s performance in social and political arenas.
But critical supporters of the government gave a high mark to the president and his cabinet over measures in foreign policy and economy but criticized them for their lackluster performance in social and political spheres.
Among opposition parties, moderate conservatives simply remained silent and refused to evaluate the government. They neither hailed the government nor criticized it, as if Mr. President and his team had been governing another country.
But radical opposition groups, most significantly the Perseverance Front, that backed former chief nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili in the 2013 presidential election, and supporters of ex-president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad who did nothing but attack the incumbent government over its one year-long rule argued that the government had no gains but a series of concessions and compromises against the enemies and ill-wishers both at home and overseas.
These ultraconservative critics viewed government’s success in breaking the deadlock in the nuclear issue, that has plagued the convert over a decade, as backing down against the West. Domestically speaking, they strongly slammed the government over what it called civil society achievements.
Now, regardless of what the supporters, critics and opponents say, how can one fairly assess the government’s performance in its first year in office? In order to make a fair and realistic assessment, two points should be taken into consideration; the situation of the country when President Rouhani took office, and the capabilities of the government.
No doubt, the current government managed to carry out a massive shakeup in Iran’s foreign policy and improve the country’s image in the international community. Furthermore, in was able to end the standoff in the nuclear issue and pave the way for its complete resolution.
The previous government’s foreign policy had practically brought the country into direct confrontation with major world powers for eight years.
The country was in a terrible economic situation when President Rouhani took the helm. Gross domestic product stood at a record low of at least minus three percent in two decades, inflation was running at 40 percent, machines at factories were idle, many workers had been laid off and the banking system was hit by the toughest ever sanctions.
The dire economic situation had forced some Iranian investors to look for opportunities in other countries like Turkey, Malaysia, the United Arab Emirates, South Africa and even China.
Above all was the rampant corruption in government organizations.
To be fair, reviving a troubled economy was neither easy nor possible overnight. The government’s economic performance should be analyzed in the light of these problems.
The change in the country’s foreign policy and the breakthrough in nuclear talks can be seen as government’s gains in the past 12 months while a poor performance in social and political arenas can be pointed to as its weaknesses.