Corrupt Managers of Raisi’s Government
Nothing symbolizes the socio-political and economic situation of the past four or five years like the stock market under the corrupt managers of Raisi’s government. If you recall, in 2020, from the then-president downwards, everyone encouraged the public to rush into the stock market. People, lured by the dream of profit and a luxurious life, sold their ordinary lives and bought stocks like Khogostar, Daraikm, and Amin II. Meanwhile, unemployed individuals became signal sellers, advising others to buy stocks like Tamlat in exchange for a few million. The most emblematic situation of that era was the famous tree in the village of Mal Mola, which was showcased in the media as a successful stock market model.
The villagers would sit under the tree, engaging in brainstorming and collective analysis to decide what to buy and sell. A reporter from IRIB narrated their story with great enthusiasm, presenting them as a successful model. Two years later, when reporters returned, one of them, who had sold three shops to invest in the stock market and was now working as a laborer in Bushehr, said that all the villagers had perished.
After the plundering flood of the stock market, none of the encouragers, whether officials who wanted to channel the turmoil of other markets into the stock market or the experts and signal sellers, took responsibility or felt any remorse for selling dreams to the people. It’s for these reasons that one can trace the symbol of the stock market over these years and narrate the pain and suffering of these people.
One of the peaks of this story was the late president’s remarks during the election debates, where he promised to immediately resolve the stock market issue. If we consider that point as the start of his administration, since his most serious promise alongside the housing issue was the stock market, the conclusion of this administration was also symbolically marked by what is now known as the ‘Ashiqi Loan,’ ending again with the stock market—a bitter and shameful end for the stock market in the thirteenth government.
Mr. Ashiqi, as the highest manager who was supposed to promptly resolve the stock market issue, leaves the market by adding an even bigger issue without having improved the stock market situation in over three years. Mr. Majid Ashiqi, with the demeanor of a government manager, responds to the numerous criticisms regarding the billion-dollar interest-free loan granted to himself and the board members of the stock exchange with two points that deserve much reflection.
Two points that have been the routine of many government managers, hoping this is the last time. Like all managers, he first accuses critics of telling a big lie. His reference for this accusation is a resolution that legally allows the board to grant loans. In fact, while accusing the critics of lying, he does not deny the act of granting a loan to himself, only stating that it was according to some legal resolution. He also does not answer the question of why, if it was a resolution, such an action was taken during the government’s transition period when he knew he would soon leave his position.
In reality, the senior government manager who was supposed to quickly resolve the stock market crisis, in his last days of managing this organization, instead of providing a report card of his presidency and answering which issue he finally resolved, is busy justifying how he legally arranged for himself an interest-free loan of over two billion from public funds.
His second point is that the employees of the stock exchange organization have special conditions, which is why they deserve such a loan. I don’t know what he means by special conditions, but I doubt that the conditions of the stock exchange board members are more special than those of millions of retirees struggling with daily living expenses and whose salaries do not cover a standard diet. The same retirees who are run around for months by bank employees for a loan worth a fraction of Mr. Raisi’s two billion and seven hundred million, only to be told that they are too old to receive this loan.
It would be more than a seventy-volume book if we were to compare Mr. Ashiqi’s special conditions with other social classes who are galaxies away from the facilities mentioned in his resolution. Many of these classes, incidentally, are victims of the same stock market. But it seems the stock market story in the thirteenth government had to start as a fantasy and end grotesquely.