Politics
Copenhagen conference
Opposition groups meet to express their latest views
November 18, 1998
The Iranian
A first-hand report from a member of Columbia University's Gulf/2000
-- an internet-based forum of Middle East experts around the world:
Rainy, cold Copenhagen hosted seven Iranian opposition groups who had
announced a multilateral meeting to discuss "Civil Society, Rule of
Law and its relevance to people's rule" in Iran. The meeting was held
in a hall not far from the Iran-Denmark Society at Blagardsgade in a mixed
and highly populated area near the center of the city. The meeting turned
out to be something between a conference with its conceptual limits, and
an opportunity to declare some new positions about Iran.
Some of the representatives of the opposition groups claimed they didn't
know that other groups would br talking and declared that their presence
did by no means imply that they were in a kind of alliance with other groups.
Almost all groups implicitly or explicitly distanced themselves from the
Mojahedin Khalgh Organization (MKO).
The number of Iranians present at the meeting was around 150-160 which
was above average for this kind of meeting in Nordic Countries. As announced
weeks before, the following groups were supposed to take part: The Constitutionnalists
Movement of Iran (Sazeman e Mashroute Khahan e Iran), Organization of People
Fedayin - Majority faction (Fadayan e Khalgh - akssariat), Democratic Party
of Kurdistan (Hezb e Democrat e Kordestan), National Front of Iran (Jebhe
ye Melli e Iran) , National Republican Movement of Iran (Hezb e djomhourikhahan
e Melli e Iran), Democratic Party of Iran (Hezb e Democratic e Iran) and
Socialist Party of Iran (Hezb e Socialist e Iran).
Dr. Mehran Barati from the National Republican Organization of Iran
(Sazeman e djomhourikhahan e Melli e Iran) was the first speaker. He emphasized
that his presence should not be taken as an approval or rejection of other
opposition groups. He said he did not mind who was listening and to which
kind of political trend he or she belonged. He said he was just explaining
his points of view.
Then he explained the meaning of "civil society," national
sovereignty, citizen and citizenship and other terms from a conceptual
point of view. He said clerics in Iran had created an organization independent
from the government which enabled them to rise against Shah. But today,
he said, the ruling clerics in Iran did not have legitimacy. They had created
a despotic religious system, one that is for the first time based on clerics
under Vilayat-e Faghih. The clerics have created a constitution of their
own based on religious rules which has had difficulties in coping with
the civil society.
Barati said a civil society should be anti-religion or use religion
as a base, but in Iran neither was the case. "We do not have civil
institutions in Iran," he emphasized. Khatami's perception of the
civil society was something unique to himself. In the end, Barati mentioned
that one of the most important problems in Iran stems from its multi-ethnic
and minority composition and not just because of democracy.
The second speaker, Farhad Farjad was not present at the first day of
the meeting. Instead Amir Mobeini from the Organisation of People's Fedayin
- Majority faction (Fadayan e Khalgh - akssariat) gave his speech. He was
the only speaker with a written and distributed paper in two pages which
he explained while speaking. Apart from his theoretical approach, he said
the Islamic Republic of Iran was controlling people's private lives. He
admitted that religious power and rule exist in Iran, but that the government
and the religious establishment should let people create their own independent
institutions. There must be a limit to religious power, he said. He also
said economic development had direct links with democracy. The principle
problem in Iran, he said, was the relationshuip between society and the
government.
Dr. Khosro Akmal of the Constitutionalist Movement of Iran (Sazeman
e Mashroute Khahan eIran) who had come from the U.S. for the meeting, was
the next to explain the positions and views of his organization. He said
today, 20 years after the revolution, people want a civil society. Iranians
outside Iran should try to give more strength to the people inside and
at the same time use the contradictions inside the Islamic regime to fight
against the intervention of religion in government. He applauded student
demonstrations against Vilayat-e Faghih, the people's passive participation
in recent Assembly of Experts elections, Mayor Karbaschi's trial and the
weakness of the regime in dealing with such events. He hoped these kinds
of events would result in the collapse of the regime. He asked all groups
to act on their commonalties to help the people inside Iran.
Hossein Montazer Haghighi from the National Front of Iran (Jebhe ye
Melli e Iran , united fraction) was the next speaker who had come from
Germany. His emphasized the need to support democratic organizations and
institutions rather than crying "Down with... Long live..." He
criticized the MKO for being dependent on foreigners and foreign countries.
Abdullah Karimi from the Democratic Party of Kurdistan (DPK)(Hezb e
Democrat e Kurdistan) believed that civil society finds its appropriate
form in any society. This may differ from one society to the other. In
each society there should be small forces that can check and balance the
central power. At present the Islamic republic of Iran neither had the
ability to develop nor the power to change. He believed that self-determination
and autonomy for Kurdistan would be a first step toward democratization
in Iran and change towards federal rule for all other minority groups.
He believed the creation of a civil society would be the last phase of
such a process. However, he said such developments would happen only by
"a miracle." The Islamic Republic of Iran was not able to change.
He concluded that the DPK supports the separation of religion from politics.
Dr. Mansour Bayat Zadeh from the Socialist Party of Iran (Sazeman e
Socialisthaayeh Iran) was the last to speak. According to him "Democracy
is not to be found within an ideologist and religious regime, because such
a regime does not believe in the equality of human beings. However, the
opposition should follow a process of dialogue with the Islamic regime
and even with the people of Iran. The constitution can not be changed unless
there is a new revolution. In the present constitution, people's rights
have been recognized, but they have not been implemented. We should support
the implementation of the constitution. If the old constitution, which
was the result of another revolution 90 years ago, had been implemented
, no revolution would have happened 20 years ago."
Bayat Zadeh said, "Some accuse us of being political Guardians
of Vilayat-e Faghih! We believe religious intellectuals in Iran have worked
with more depth than the laic and non-religious ones. We have always wasted
our time with slogans. We, the socialists, believe any regime which is
not dependent on foreigners is national regime. The Islamic Republic of
Iran is not a dependant regime, but it is a suppressive and undemocratic
one. Those who run newspapers, such as the publishers of [the now-banned]
Tous, were members of the Revolutionary Guards who were involved in the
Iran-Iraq war. We should see the realities of this society." He said
his organization supported a "common language" and avoided an
absolutist approach. "We are in opposition to Khatami and should not
insult him. We should not try to increase our distance with the people
inside Iran and should try to acquire a legal position and to ask for the
implementation of the constitution. The implementation of the constitution
can be the best we can fight for."
The meeting started at 3 P.M. and finished at about 8. There were very
few women in the audience, 6-7 only.
