On the brink of the election:
"The faction fights have nothing to do with us"!

M. Razi

There is less than a week to go until the presidential election and there
is neither any sign of election enthusiasm among the people nor any sign
of electioneering among the ruling elite. The reformers have all become
confused and ineffective as their differences became exacerbated before
the presidential election. Many of the Islamic Students' Societies and the
Office for Consolidating Unity (OCU) are refusing to take part. For example,
the Central Council of the Islamic Students' Society of the Science and
Industry University of Iran has published a manifesto in which it has ruled
out its participation (ISNA, 22 May 2001). The difference between the students'
movement and the OCU, the Islamic Iran Solidarity Party, and Islamic Participation
have become exacerbated, with some of the supporters of the Participation
Front (in the Fars and Esfahan provinces) not even intending to vote for
the Participation Front's candidate (Siasat-e Rooz daily, 19 May). The bitter
electoral scenarios confronting the reformers are not at all promising.
At best, if Khatami receives more than ten million votes (no one, including
Khatami himself, expects that he will get 20 million votes like last time),
the situation will continue as it has done over the past four years. The
only difference being that Khatami will have much less power and will be
less resolute than before. But if his votes are less than ten million, or
he is forced to go to the second round (if less than 50 percent), he will
not only be discredited among the people but also lose credibility among
his staunchest supporters. Either way the demise of reformers and 'civil
society' has started.

As opposed to the reformers who have concentrated their and society's attention
on the election, the workers of Iran have not paid the slightest attention,
or shown any interest in, this made-to-order election. This is because they
think that it is neither related to them nor linked to their problems. In
the latest protests of the Bafnaz workers of Esfahan, who have not been
paid for two and a half months, one of their slogans was "The faction fight
has nothing to do with us!" (Kar-o-Kargar daily, 23 May). The protests of
other workers are also continuing. For example, the workers of Chit-e Rey
gathered outside Bonyad-e Mostazafin [Foundation for the Dispossessed] on
27 May to protest against not being paid their wages for three months, being
taken off the production line and the stock of the company being handed
over to the private sector. The workers of Kamrad also protested in front
of Ghom county hall because of problems with their wages and their unsafe
and unhygienic conditions (ISNA, 18 May). Recently hundreds of workers of
Chit-e Rey also protested in front of Bonyad-e Mostazafin in Tehran because
of the factory being sold to the private sector, 1700 redundancies in the
past three months and not being paid their wages or bonuses; and workers
of Jamco in Tehran gathered outside the Ministry of Industry because of
not being paid their wages for the last ten months; and a group of workers
of Iran Chika factory, who are mostly women, protested and blocked the road
outside Gilan county hall because of not getting their benefits and pay
for a year.

These are just a few examples of the workers' protests during the past few
months. The workers of Iran have through experience become aware that none
of the ruling elite's factions will solve their problems. That is why they
themselves have directly entered into the defence of their rights. They
are fed up of the politicking of the governing factions and the impractical
policies of the reformers (the other oppressed layers of society, like the
youth and women, are also suffering because of this situation and have set
up their own independent organisations). Today, on the brink of the presidential
election, the workers have entered a new phase of offensives and strikes
against the capitalist system.

Only by relying on their own strength and their independent organisations
will the workers of Iran be able to co-ordinate and concentrate their present
offensive against the capitalist system (and unite with other oppressed
layers of society). The present central slogans of workers like "Independent
organisations must be set up!", "Workers' wages must be adjusted in line
with the inflation rate", "Hand over factories to workers together with
bank loans!" (refer to the statements of the WIUI), and also, "Implement
workers control over production and distribution!" and "Open the account
books!" These are among the demands that when posed by the workers will
enable them to organise themselves in a new way against the future made-to-order
president of the republic (there is no difference which of the ten individuals
is elected).

During the recent weeks the workers of Iran have shown in practice that
they do not have any illusions about any of the ruling elite's cliques and
that for them the presidential election is worthless. They say in a loud
voice, like their class comrades of Bafnaz in Esfahan: "The faction fights
have nothing to do with us!"

3 June 2001

Translated from Kargar-e Socialist No. 100.


Iranian Revolutionary Socialists' League
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