Iran: The "10 Demands" Manifesto - Soroush Speaks

On 4 January, we posted the manifesto of five expatriate intellectuals- which followed the "5 Proposals" post-Ashura declaration of Mir Hossein Mousavi- with 10 demands, including freedom of media, adherence to the Constitution, recognition of civic groups, an independent judiciary, and the resignation of President Ahmadinejad.

One of the five authors, Abdolkarim Soroush, spoke about the manifesto and the Green movement to journalist Robin Wright:

Latest from Iran (7 January): Radio Silence?

Q: Why did you decide to issue a manifesto now?

A: The Green Movement is into its seventh month now, and I and my friends have been following events very closely and have been in touch with some of our friends in Iran. After [the protests on] Ashura on Dec 27, we came to realize that it was a real turning point. It was at that time that the regime decided to crack down on the Green Movement. In one instance, the regime rolled over a protester and killed him. It was a very severe message to all the protesters and defenders and supporters of the Green Movement that it intends to crush the movement harshly.

On the other hand, we have also individually been frequently asked by our friends: What are the real demands of the Green Movement, because the Green Movement was something that jumped on the scene? There was no planning for it. The election was the beginning, and it just evolved and evolved. As it evolved, some demands had emerged, but there was nothing that showed what was in the minds of the leaders of the movement.

The five of us thought that because we are close enough to the leaders of the movement – Mir Hossein Mousavi, Mehdi Karroubi and Mohammad Khatami – and know their demands, we should start drafting a manifesto or statement about the Green Movement. So we started drafting, and then Mousavi’s statement [that he would die for the movement if necessary] was issued [on Jan. 1]. Since we are living outside the country, don’t have to fear [the government] and know what is in the mind of the people, we decided to publish our own statement to make clear what Mousavi’s intentions and goals of the Green Movement are.

Q: Whose views does this manifesto reflect – just the leadership or the wider range of followers?

A: This is a pluralistic movement, including believers and non-believers, socialists and liberals. There are all walks of life in the Green Movement. We tried to come up with the common points for all. We know there are many more demands, many more than these.

Maybe in the next stage, they may demand redrafting the constitution. But for now, they would like to work within the framework of the constitution, and we were careful not to trespass those limits.

Read the rest here.

Comments

[Bahman]

Appropriate demands for the time and openness to additional demands as the situation evolves....Nice work.

[Arshama]

Unfortunately no manifesto of democratic and secular Iranians has been published so far, making it rather difficult to assess their demands and discuss them publicly. A relevant comment to Moussavi's statement was written by Ms Jaleh Vafa, astutely addressing all ambiguities and stressing the fact, that he draws up the usual separation between "khodi" (with us) and "gheyre khodi" (not with us):
http://www.peykeiran.com/Content.aspx?ID=11735
She also points to the obvious contradiction between his 5th demand "people’s rights for having legal demonstrations and forming parties and groups" and the following restriction "abiding by the 27th principle of the Constitution", which reads "provided... that assemblies are not detrimental to the fundamental principles of Islam".
As we have seen in the past 6 months even peaceful and silent assemblies are "detrimental to the fundamental principles of Islam".
This contradiction reappears in point 4 of the "10 Demands" manifesto:
"4. Recognizing the rights of all the lawful political groups, university student and women movements, the NGOs and civil organizations, and labor unions for lawful activities and the right to peaceful protest according to Article 27 of the constitution."
Obviously Mr Soroush and his colleagues are still denying this fundamental contradiction, which would oblige them to refute the principle of "velayate faghih".
By adhering to this principle, they ignore the pluralistic nature of this movement and try to reinforce the fundamental divide between "khodi" and "gheyre khodi". It is to be regretted that the reformists do not draw lessons from their failed attempt of the Khatami era to reconcile a totalitarian constitution with fundamental democratic principles. As long as they ignore their error in reasoning, this part of the movement will fail to accomplish any of its objectives.
Imho many protesters have crossed these restrictions on free thought and ask for a real democracys with a strict separation of mosque and state. "You cannot be a little bit pregnant", like they say in German.

[lfbycr lfbycr]

I smell the taste of wine. see you! "We do not talk more that day. We stood up, shook his hand and eye lookedeach and so on. Bees were shut out, but came to backhesitatingly. mqigfa mqigfa - Moncler Jacka.