How to feel?
Meh! so "the big" Friday passed by. The parliamentary elections in Iran are finished. The results are out. About 51% of the people according to the "official report" of the Interior Ministry have voted. Some reformists are unhappy about the turn out number, as it is higher than they expected. Some reformists are however happy as the number is lower than last elections. Some conservatives report "high" turn outs and another slap in face of "the enemy". There are reports of cheating. There are stories of people voting because they have to: they need the stamp you get when you vote because they want to get into state universities, or they are in army, or they are retired and they need their retirement payments from the government, or ...
I really don't know how to feel about the Friday's outcome. I was hoping for a low turn out of course. Closer to 10% rather than 50%! But I am not living in Iran right now. So perhaps I cannot expect anything from those living in Iran. I simply don't have the rights. I cannot expect them to not vote, nor can I expect them to rise up, demonstrate, and throw out mullahs so I and many other Iranians like me living abroad can go back to Iran and live the way they live now, a freer life. Because lets be honest, not many of us are willing to go back right now and live in Iran since it is "too hard"! We are used to living outside Iran. So now, I cannot and do not expect anything from Iranians living in Iran. But once I finish my graduate school and go back to Iran to live there, I earn the right to expect things from my fellow countrymen and women. Till then, I love you Iran, and I love you Iranians living in Iran. And I shall respect you all and what you choose. But when I come back, things better start changing or ELSE.. :) (just joking of course...)