"Iran Guardian Council acts as a political party"
Sunday, February 08, 2004
IranMania News
Tehran, February 8 ( IranMania) – A student gathering called ‘Defense for Democracy’ was held in Elm-o-Sanat University of Tehran on Saturday. The reformist MPs, Elaheh Koulaee, Mohammad Kianoushrad and Ali Tajernia took part in the gathering. The get-together which was organized by the university’s Islamic Association was warmly welcomed by the students.
According to Iran’s Labor News Agency ( ILNA), Elaheh Koulaee said: “25 years ago we had some ideals in mind, but see what we have achieved today! Iranians have started struggling for democracy and a fair distribution of political power since a century ago, but today they face challenges they could never imagine. The question now is why we have problems in understanding such concepts as freedom, independence and Islamic republic which were clearly defined by the founder of the Islamic Revolution, Imam Khomeini.”
Elaborating on the hardliners’ recent moves, Koulaee reiterated: “The conservatives are inflicting a heavy blow on the entire nation by their shortsightedness. We have to be united inside the borders of our homeland. For as long as we don’t listen to different views, we will gain nothing.”
Concerning her disqualification by the Guardian Council, the MP stated:
“Two years ago, the Daricheh Internet site released an article saying that I cooperate with the Russian embassy. My friends repeatedly asked me to insistently deny the news. However I told them the issue is too comic and trivial to react to, for, my record is available to everyone. When the Guardian Council termed me unqualified to stand for the upcoming parliamentary elections, I found the same baseless reports as the body’s basis of decision-making. We have to learn from past experiences. Every 25 years the Iranian nation experiences a great development. Thus having this issue in mind, why should we repeat the same mistakes? The conservatives accuse us of skepticism the same way the anti-reform forces accused the constitutional revolutionaries at the end of the Qajarid era.”
The reformist MP noted: “How is it that if the members of the National Security Commission in their secret meetings talk about resumption of ties with the US, it is considered a crime and a reason for their invalidation, but those affiliated to the conservatives can talk for hours with US diplomats without being blamed?”
Mohammad Kianoushrad for his part said: “Presently some try to turn the Islamic Republic into an Islamic Monarchy. We are opposed to the change and defend the nature of the Islamic system. The disqualification of the candidates was a politically-motivated move and the Guardian Council acted as a political party which tried to do away with its rivals.”
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