IRAN'S POST ELECTION TURMOIL NOT TO HAPPEN IN RI : OBSERVER

Yogyakarta, June 22 (ANTARA) - The turmoil currently happening in Iran following the country's presidential election cannot possibly occur in Indonesia, according to an observer.

International affairs observer at Gajah Mada University (UGM) Ichlasul Amal said here on Monday, something like the post-election unrest in Iran was not likely to happen after the presidential election in Indonesia.

"It cannot happen in Indonesia because here we do not have very dominant groups in the political arena like in Iran. In Iran there are two dominant groups in the country's politics," Amal said.

He said the chaos in Iran after its presidential election was because of the existence of two dominant groups, namely the moderate group and the conservative or hardliners' group.

"The violence erupted in Iran because one of the dominant groups was unsatisfied with the election result. The moderate group which lost in the election then staged protest rallies which were responded to strongly by the authorities," Amal said.

He said, in the past, both groups supported the Iranian Revolution but in later developments they became divided by differences and eventually became frontally opposed to each other.

"The moderate group was of the opinion that the conservative group in power under Mahmoud Ahmadinejad had brought about bad economic conditions in Iran," he said.

The moderate group which was supported by students was also of the opinion that the conservative group was hampering the democratic processes and freedom of expression in the country.

"That is the reason why the two groups' disharmony with each other has grown, although at the beginning they supported the revolution together," Amal said.

Consequently, he said, when the presidential election was won by Mahmoud Ahmadinejad from the conservative group, the moderate group felt unsatisfied and took to the streets to express their sentiments.