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PRAETORIANS PREPARE TO PLAY OVERT POLITICAL ROLE.

Hard-liners already hold the best hand in Iran's political poker game. Now they are poised to pull a wild card from their sleeves. Conservative figures in the government and the leading conservative political factions are advocating the candidacy of Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) personnel for parliamentary office. The IRGC ground forces deputy commander in charge of cultural affairs, Brigadier General Alireza Azimi-Jahed, said on 3 October that having IRGC members in the parliament would help Iran, ILNA reported. He added that they could be candidates only after their resignations from the IRGC are accepted. Azimi-Jahed said, "if elected they would not try to establish a military attitude in the parliament."

According to Article 29 of the election law, armed forces personnel must leave the military at least two months before registering as candidates. They must discontinue all activities related to their previous profession. A conservative legislator from Tehran, Gholam Ali Haddad-Adel, said on 12 October that there is nothing wrong with military personnel serving in the parliament, ILNA reported. He noted that many of these people have served in various professional areas and now they want to bring their expertise to the legislature. Haddad-Adel conceded the likelihood of such candidates receiving right-wing support and added, "This is natural and it is not a crime for a current of thinking to support military men." Alluding to the reformists, Haddad-Adel said that some of them are much more militaristic than the armed forces personnel who would run for office. This would not be the first time that former military and security personnel stand for public office in Iran; they have done so in every election since 1979. What is significant now is that such a large number of such individuals are to run, and that this is reportedly part of an organized political plan. Reformists worry about the hostility expressed toward them previously by some IRGC and Basij leaders.

IRGC spokesman Commander Masud Jazayeri denies that that the Guards Corps has made specific recommendations to its personnel about participating in the election, "Iran" reported on 15 October. Jazayeri said that all government organizations, including the military, are prohibited from any action for or against a specific candidate. Another IRGC official, Commander Fathollah Jafari, added that the Guards Corps command announced formally before the last election that it would not support specific candidates or groups and it intends to do the same thing this time. "The Guards Corps is always trying to have a lively and purposeful presence in all the areas of social life," Jazayeri said according to "Iran." "The election is not an exception to that rule. However, there is a big difference between this kind of participation and interfering in the decisions of the voters and their elected representatives."

There have been many unsubstantiated claims that IRGC personnel voted overwhelmingly for the dark horse and reformist candidate, Hojatoleslam Mohammad Khatami, in the May 1997 presidential election. How will they vote in the parliamentary election? Will they vote for their comrades in arms, or do they bear an animosity toward the military leadership that would preclude such support? What about the general public: will appeals to patriotism and revolutionary values attract public support? (Bill Samii)

Source: RFE/RL Iran Report Vol. 6, No. 42, 20 October 2003

REFORMIST PARTY HOLDS ANNUAL CONGRESS AMID QUESTIONS ABOUT COALITION'S FUTURE.

Iran's main reformist political group has just completed its annual two-day congress, but questions about the reformists' role in the February 2004 parliamentary election remain unanswered. Meanwhile, President Hojatoleslam Mohammad Khatami is encouraging the unenthusiastic reformists to participate in the election. The Islamic Iran Participation Party's (IIPP) fifth annual congress began on 16 October, and items on the agenda include domestic and foreign affairs, the upcoming parliamentary election, the economy, the performance of the party, and its activities in the coming year, ISNA reported. Participating in the congress are 147 provincial representatives, 113 central party officials, and 100 none-voting observers, including a vice president, cabinet ministers, and national-religious activists. Officials from the Islamic Iran Solidarity Party and the Executives of Construction Party were also guests at the congress.

IIPP Secretary-General Mohammad Reza Khatami, who is the deputy speaker of parliament and the president's younger brother, reportedly made some daring observations in his opening speech on 16 October. According to Mehrdad Serjooie's article in "Iran News" on 19 October, Khatami "openly question[ed] the powers of the Supreme Leader." He also said, according to dpa on 16 October, that fundamentalist interpretations of Islam by some of those in government are driving people away from religion and the Islamic system. "This will not only increase the trend towards secularism, especially among the youth, but also lead to more influence from abroad for overthrowing the system."

A milder version of the speech was provided by IRNA. Mohammad Reza Khatami said that Iran's constitution is adequate and does not need to be changed. The problem, according to Khatami, is not the absence of laws but the absence of the rule of law. He added that the constitution is implemented in an ambiguous manner, and the connection between responsibilities and accountability is missing. "Yas-i No" reported on 15 October that the rest of the sessions would be held behind closed doors. IIPP official Hussein Mahmudzadeh shed light on the course of these sessions, however, explaining that it is still not clear if the party will participate in the election. Many would like to leave some room to maneuver on the issue.

A little more than a week before the IIPP congress, in the evening of 8 October, leaders of the reformist 2nd of Khordad political factions met with President Khatami and parliament speaker Hojatoleslam Mehdi Karrubi to discuss the parliamentary election, IRNA reported on 9 October. Khatami said that a suitable atmosphere would ensure a massive public turnout, and he emphasized acting within a constitutional framework. Karrubi reportedly echoed Khatami's comments. All the meeting participants stressed the need for intra-factional unity. This was the second such meeting; the first took place on 2 October (see "RFE/RL Iran Report," 6 October 2003).

Second of Khordad groups went into the earlier meeting with a sense of despair about the upcoming election, the "Sharq" newspaper reported on 4 October. Some of the more radical reformist groups, such as the Mujahedin of the Islamic Revolution Organization, even advocated a boycott of the election. Yet President Khatami and Karrubi emphasized the importance of public participation, according to "Sharq." The performance of both the legislative and executive branches was criticized, and the need for their coordination and unity was stressed. Parliamentarian Jamileh Kadivar was at the meeting, and she said that the 2nd of Khordad groups expressed concern about restrictions on public choice in the election. The reformists' lack of success in getting laws amended also is worrisome to the country's top elected officials. Khatami and Karrubi met on 9 October with members of the Guardians' Council, Fars News Agency and state television reported. The meeting was convened on Khatami's invitation and reportedly was intended to address some of the differences between the elected executive and legislative branches of government and the unelected guardians -- namely, the establishment of provincial election-supervision offices, supervisory boards, and the fate of the twin bills. The bills were introduced in September 2002 and were intended to reduce the power of the Guardians' Council in elections and to strengthen presidential powers.

When asked about the outcome of the meeting, Karrubi was noncommittal, saying that there was a lot to discuss, such as the annual budget, the fourth development plan, the February parliamentary election, and other future elections. He said that differences should be reduced and "we should all move forward within the framework of the constitution and the aspirations of the imam." This latter series of meetings -- those of the reformists with Khatami and Karrubi, and that of the Guardians' Council with Khatami and Karrubi -- is indicative of the weak position in which the reformists find themselves only four months before the election. According to a report in "Entekhab" on 13 October, the absence of the Executives of Construction Party and of the student movement at these meetings raises questions about their role in the election. (Bill Samii)

Source: RFE/RL Iran Report Vol. 6, No. 42, 20 October 2003

2003-10-20
Middle East Online

Iran theologians blast Ebadi's Nobel Prize win

TEHRAN - A group of clerics and theology students from Iran's clerical centre of Qom have hit out at the Nobel Peace Prize win of women's rights lawyer Shirin Ebadi saying it was part of a Western conspiracy against Islam.

In a statement carried by the hardline Jomhuri Eslami newspaper, the group from Qom's main seminary said: "The decision by the Western oppressive societies to award the prize to Ebadi was done in order to ridicule Islam."

The paper did not say how many people signed the statement, which also lamented that a "serious revolutionary confrontation with the tribe of infidels" had not yet taken place.

As for the "infidels", it voiced hope for their "tongues to be cut from their mouths and the poisonous pens broken in their hearts".

Keeping up its stiff criticism of Ebadi, the paper also quoted Mousa Qorbani - a prominent conservative MP - as comparing the Nobel laureate to British author Salman Rushdie, who was sentenced to death by Iran's revolutionary leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini for writing "The Satanic Verses".

"Awarding the Nobel Prize to Ebadi is like rewarding Salmam Rushdie, the Zionist regime and US leaders," he was quoted as saying.

Ebadi was given the prize on October 10 for her efforts to promote democracy and human rights, especially in her campaign to change Iran's laws governing women and children.

Her reform efforts and her defence of political dissidents have earned her the loathing of powerful hardliners here.

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