After a recent meeting of the "Assembly of Experts" which had been convened to review the parliamentary election, Rafsanjani said during an interview that Iran is one of the "healthiest" and "most free" countries of the world! These completely baseless and untrue comments are not acceptable to anyone in Iran, as it is clear even for the regime's supporters that the fifth parliamentary election is like the previous elections: a bogus and fake election. Even some of the supporters of the "Islamic order" have been barred by the "Council of Guardians"! Of the initial 5100 candidates 40% have been rejected, including 30 members of the current parliament! How is it that a representative is fit for the fourth parliament and yet unfit for the fifth parliament? Is this not a completely ridiculous charade?
Today the faction opposing Rafsanjani has formed around the Ressalat newspaper. Under the guise of having "no confidence in the clerical regime" and "close relations with the USA" they have mounted a challenge to Rafsanjani. For example, Ali-Akbar Nategh Nouri, one of Rafsanjani's opponents, described the differences between the two groups:
"Some people believe the necessary condition for economic development is political development, and the necessary condition for developing foreign policy is resolving our differences and problems with America. This is a dangerous belief. If we want to settle our differences with America we must concede on many central issues. We are not prepared to do so. We are not going to retreat from the principles of the revolution and Imam Khomeini's line by even one step." (Interview at the Tehran Chamber of Commerce)
But the representatives of the faction opposing Rafsanjani, who have also shared the contacts with the West, do not present a political alternative. Both factions see themselves as full and unswerving supporters of the Velayate Faghih - the divine right of the clergy to rule Iran.
The real quarrel between the two factions is that the "traditional right" has the upper hand and wants to have a parliamentary majority and then the presidency, so that it can pursue its objectives. The "modern right", lead by Rafsanjani, whose policy of "economic adjustment" has reached the end of the road, is in a defensive position. In fact, there is no qualitative difference between the two factions as both want to safeguard the capitalist system. The main difference is merely on the rate of integration within the capitalist world order. The Rafsanjani faction is in favour of the widespread presence of Iranian capitalism in the world market, and especially the United States. At the same time the western governments are determined to give the Rafsanjani faction a "pragmatic" guise so that they can be free to make deals with it. The other faction also wants to deal with the imperialists, but at a slower rate, along with extracting more concessions from the West - and is therefore called "radical" by the West. Just as the Rafsanjani faction wants to return to the golden days of the monarchist regime (modern capitalism), the other faction wants a stable capitalist regime but in an "Islamic" form, and does not advocate the loss of the present position of the clergy.
This election is also bogus because political parties or organisations opposed to the regime are not taking place. Even liberal Islamic organisations like the Freedom Movement, which is a supporter of the Islamic system and the regime are banned (initially just a few of them, as individuals, were accepted by the Interior Ministry but the Council of Guardians barred all of them except Ezzatollah Sahabi). The registered candidates have just six days to campaign!
How can a regime that flogs a journalist because of a cartoon and a few critical articles guarantee "freedom" for other organisations? What kind of a "healthy" and "free" government is this that does not even allow the supporters of the system to voice their superficial and tame criticisms on the way the government operates? They say that "freedom" is for those who agree with the system of clerical rule. If that is so, we cannot talk of "freedom", since all dictatorial regimes make such contradictory statements!
This is a bogus election because the Interior Ministry, the Assembly of Experts and then finally the parliament itself have gradually excluded all dissenters. In addition, all the participating factions are from a particular tendency and have the same beliefs. The protests of the masses in the cities of Iran, and especially the insurrection of the people of Islamshahr, clearly show that these so-called "oppositionists" to the current government act in complete unison with it when it comes to clamping down and suppressing the people of Iran. When the regime's ruling body is in danger, both the supporters of the rule of the clergy and the supporters of closer relations with the United States, come to an immediate agreement!
Therefore, the main reason for holding an election cannot be that of differences of views or programs. By holding an election and some "democratic" posturing the regime intends to show western governments that it has created a democratic society that is free of any coercion. This is because one of the main conditions of the international banks and western governments for establishing new, and developing old, economic relations with "Third World" countries has been their continued insistence on guaranteeing a form of "democracy" in these countries - even if it is just for show! The main reason for this is the pressure of public opinion in western countries on their governments, and therefore the international banks cannot allow the establishment of relations with "fascist" or "dictatorial" regimes. Under these pressures imperialism is willing to having political links with so-called "moderate" governments. One of the aims of the "economic boycott" by the Clinton administration was this. Even the leaders of the Iranian regime acknowledge this. For example, Ali-Akbar Velayati, the Foreign Minister, said to the Sobh weekly:
"When we go to buy goods from a country they say that we should improve our human rights situation before they would sell us the goods or buy from you. When we want to meet the representatives of a country they have the same condition for us and if we do not do this the Iranian economy pays the price: we have to buy goods through middlemen at a 25 percent premium."
Imperialism does not have a principled opposition to repression and coercion, or the lack of women's or national minorities' rights - since the imperialist countries do the same at a lower level. The only condition the imperialists lay down is that these repressive acts should not be carried out in the open! The Iranian regime is therefore doing what the international banks ask of it. The so-called "free" and "healthy" election of Rafsanjani's regime is designed for this purpose and nothing else! The recent invitation of Maurice Danbey Capitorn, the special human rights investigator of the United Nations, was also for this purpose.
In a society where the most basic democratic rights like the freedom of expression, right to assembly, a free press, the right to strike, women's freedom and so on do not exist, it is obvious that any election is nothing but a joke. The workers and toilers and all the various layers of society will effectively boycott this election, since they know that it is a complete fake. The vanguard of Iranian workers have only one option that will bring about a normal situation for holding a "free" election:
Preparing for the violent overthrow of the regime through a general strike and an armed insurrection.
Iranian Revolutionary Socialists' League (EC)
1 March 1996
(Translated from Kargar Socialist - No. 33, March 1996)