Published: October 14 2008 04:00 | Last updated: October 14 2008 04:00
The mood in the Tehran baazar on Monday was confused. Some of the grey shutters in the vaulted passageways of the bazaar remained firmly closed, others were open for business while yet more were half open-half closed, perhaps reflecting that many bazaaris – merchants – were in two minds over whether to continue their strike against the government of president Mahmoud Ahmadi-Nejad.
Over the past week merchants in some of the biggest bazaars in Iran have been closed in protest at the imposition of a 3 per cent value added tax. On Sunday Tehran joined the dispute in spite of the fact the government announced late last week that it was to “postpone” imposition of the levy.
The government move was an attempt to avoid confrontation with the old structured market, which has a close relationship with Iran’s senior clergy.
But the reaction in Tehran – where traders have demanded the suspension of the tax not just its postponement – has fuelled suspicions that traders are using the issue as an opportunity to remind the regime of the bazaaris’ historical economic and political power and that it could be exerted again.
Still more suspect the bazaari protest is turning into a political battlefield with the opponents of Mr Ahmadi-Nejad, encouraging the strike to bring pressure on him ahead the presidential election next June.
“You can track political rivalries and see politicians showing muscles in the bazaar,” says one trader.
The bazaaris rendered crucial support to the 1979 revolution. But this strike is the first of its kind against the Islamic regime.
The atmosphere in Tehran’s bazaar, with closed shops, has prompted comparisons with the revolutionary days, with many traders nostalgic for the time when anti-government riots helped topple the Shah and the bazaaris had more economic and political influence than they can muster today.
“We should not be happy with anything less than [the] collapse of [Mr] Ahmadi-Nejad’s government,” says one old trader who argues that the strike should continue.
Many analysts say the bazaaris today largely stand where they were before the revolution in terms of frustration with the government, but the emergence of modern trading companies and shopping malls has reduced their influence.
There is also a new element: many of the modern economic centres are suspected to be affiliated or endorsed by the elite Revolutionary Guards and intelligence services, making rivalry extremely difficult for bazaaris. The bazaaris fear their wealth and power is diminishing and modern trade centres are replacing them, says Mohammad-Reza Behzadian, former head of Tehran chamber of commerce.
The trend is leading to the establishment of a new class of entrepreneurs sweeping power away from traditional traders and ignoring their past contribution.
“The bazaari’s fundamental protest is not against tax. Rather, it is against being ignored,” says Saeed Laylaz, an analyst. “It is weeping like a class worried about extinction.”
Despite a diminishing influence, the geographical concentration of thousands of shops sprawling through hundreds of narrow streets in one district gives the bazaari a unique position and a base of power which is not replicated among other classes.
“It takes probably less than an hour for a few old bazaaris just to walk along the bazaar and ask others to shut the whole bazaar,” says Mr Behzadian.
Although analysts believe the good old days of the bazaari are over and doubt recent protests have the capacity to evolve to a national movement or create any major economic crisis, they warn about its social impact at a time when inflation stands at 29.4 per cent and is growing.
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/edfd8ebe-9976-11dd-9d48-000077b07658.html
The mood in the Tehran baazar on Monday was confused. Some of the grey shutters in the vaulted passageways of the bazaar remained firmly closed, others were open for business while yet more were half open-half closed, perhaps reflecting that many bazaaris – merchants – were in two minds over whether to continue their strike against the government of president Mahmoud Ahmadi-Nejad.
Over the past week merchants in some of the biggest bazaars in Iran have been closed in protest at the imposition of a 3 per cent value added tax. On Sunday Tehran joined the dispute in spite of the fact the government announced late last week that it was to “postpone” imposition of the levy.
The government move was an attempt to avoid confrontation with the old structured market, which has a close relationship with Iran’s senior clergy.
But the reaction in Tehran – where traders have demanded the suspension of the tax not just its postponement – has fuelled suspicions that traders are using the issue as an opportunity to remind the regime of the bazaaris’ historical economic and political power and that it could be exerted again.
Still more suspect the bazaari protest is turning into a political battlefield with the opponents of Mr Ahmadi-Nejad, encouraging the strike to bring pressure on him ahead the presidential election next June.
“You can track political rivalries and see politicians showing muscles in the bazaar,” says one trader.
The bazaaris rendered crucial support to the 1979 revolution. But this strike is the first of its kind against the Islamic regime.
The atmosphere in Tehran’s bazaar, with closed shops, has prompted comparisons with the revolutionary days, with many traders nostalgic for the time when anti-government riots helped topple the Shah and the bazaaris had more economic and political influence than they can muster today.
“We should not be happy with anything less than [the] collapse of [Mr] Ahmadi-Nejad’s government,” says one old trader who argues that the strike should continue.
Many analysts say the bazaaris today largely stand where they were before the revolution in terms of frustration with the government, but the emergence of modern trading companies and shopping malls has reduced their influence.
There is also a new element: many of the modern economic centres are suspected to be affiliated or endorsed by the elite Revolutionary Guards and intelligence services, making rivalry extremely difficult for bazaaris. The bazaaris fear their wealth and power is diminishing and modern trade centres are replacing them, says Mohammad-Reza Behzadian, former head of Tehran chamber of commerce.
The trend is leading to the establishment of a new class of entrepreneurs sweeping power away from traditional traders and ignoring their past contribution.
“The bazaari’s fundamental protest is not against tax. Rather, it is against being ignored,” says Saeed Laylaz, an analyst. “It is weeping like a class worried about extinction.”
Despite a diminishing influence, the geographical concentration of thousands of shops sprawling through hundreds of narrow streets in one district gives the bazaari a unique position and a base of power which is not replicated among other classes.
“It takes probably less than an hour for a few old bazaaris just to walk along the bazaar and ask others to shut the whole bazaar,” says Mr Behzadian.
Although analysts believe the good old days of the bazaari are over and doubt recent protests have the capacity to evolve to a national movement or create any major economic crisis, they warn about its social impact at a time when inflation stands at 29.4 per cent and is growing.
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/edfd8ebe-9976-11dd-9d48-000077b07658.html
