Consensus on Rafsanjani Did Not Come Easily

Hashemi Rafsanjani’s official last minute registration as a presidential candidate has not only disrupted the many political alignments in the country but has raised as many questions as well. Since reformist leaders declared their support for Rafsanjani’s registration many ask what happened to the conditions that a leading reformist Mohammad Khatami had set for participating in the presidential race. What about the demands of the public? What led reformists to agree on Rafsanjani and what do they expect from the elections?

Hamid-Reza Jalaipour is a leadership member of the Jebhe Mosharekat reformist group (Participation Front) and in an exclusive interview with Rooz responds to some of these questions. The Front issued a statement yesterday calling Rafsanjani’s action “brave” and declared its “unconditional” support  for him.

Sazemane Mujahidin Enghelab Eslami (the Organization of the Islamic Revolution Mujahedin), another reformist organization, also issued a statement in support of Rafsanjani’s candidacy.

Jalaipour revealed that reaching an agreement over Rafsanjani was not easy for reformers. “This was not a joke. They talked about it for months before reaching an agreement on a candidate so they could pursue the demands of the prisoners, detainees and the public.”

Here are the excerpts of the interview.

Rooz: What made the reformers decide to participate in the elections and then how did they decide on Rafsanjani?

Jalaipour: Elections are important for reformers because they connect ordinary people to public issues and the decisions of the rulers. These elections are particularly important to them because of the serious issues facing Iran which elections can help resolve. Reformers have been under very difficult conditions where they were subjected to interrogations for things such as mere survival. So they decided to take a step to pull society out of this situation. Reformers were in agreement on a number of issues from many months ago one of which was the importance the upcoming elections and the other was the need to participate in them. They also realized that they had to support a candidate who would be supported by the majority of reformers. They were not after just anybody. It had to be somebody that was well known to all and accepted by all. Two people had these qualifications: Rafsanjani and Khatami. Khatami insisted on Rafsanjani which resulted in complete support for him by all reformers. I think Mr. Rafsanjani’s acceptance is the first success for reformers who have been under intense pressure for the past four years. The second will hopefully be his victory in the race. I am very optimistic because self-centered groups inside the country are now very angry which indicates that what reformers did was right.

Rooz: Mr. Khatami and other reformers had set specific conditions for participating in the elections, such as release of political prisoners, the lifting of the house arrest on Mr. Mousavi, Mr. Karoubi and Ms Zahra Rahnavard and free elections. But none of them have been attained.

Jalaipour: The conditions that Mr. Khatami had set were for the elections not for the reformers. These included free elections, access to media and to the public etc.

Rooz: None of them were attained.

Jalaipour: One of their demands is the strengthening of democracy and popular will. They want democracy to be institutionalized. There are two practical ways for this: Some argue to stay away because of the restrictions. Others argue that reformers should participate to strengthen what is available. There are still others who are holding back. So it was not easy for reformers to reach to an agreement on this. They talked for months until they agreed to enter the elections with an all-acceptable candidate so they could then pursue their demands to free the prisoners, detainees and other issues. They realized that they would not be able to pursue these by staying out.

Rooz: The issue is that reformers in the past had engaged in activities to destroy Rafsanjani and during the sixth Majlis, …

Jalaipour: That is not correct. Those who are supporting Mr. Rafsanjani today did not abandon him at that time. There was freedom during the reform period (Khatami’s administration). Two individuals wrote harsh commentary against Mr. Rafsanjani and went to prison. Rafsanjani himself tolerated them. It is the opposition today that is exaggerating this issue. We must be careful not to fall into their trap. When did Mr. Khatami during his 8 year presidency abandon Rafsanjani?

Rooz: In 2005, reformers pinned Dr Moin to challenge Mr. Rafsanjani and even today the talk is that Ahmadinejad won because of this destructive action. His image was tarred then by reformers and by confronting him through their own candidate.

Jalaipour: Our experience has shown that we should have had a single candidate at that time and reformers should not have allowed this split. This was a mistake by them then which took time to be realized.

Rooz: There is some talk of a rejection of Rafsanjani’s candidacy. Others even say that as an elder statesman he should stay at the Expediency Council and mention his age. What do you think?

Jalaipour: Those who have no belief in the rule of law use threatening language for their ends. They used to write these lies about him until 5:30pm on Saturday (at about which time Mr. Rafsanjani registered his candidacy). Mr. Rafsanjani and the reformers had either to succumb to these attacks or think about the country and state it is in. Reformers did not surrender to this and have accepted all criticism. The last four years were very unpleasant for them.

Rooz: How optimistic are you about Mr. Rafsanjani’s victory?

Jalaipour: The elections are 30 days away. Conditions in Iran require a daily assessment. Still, we must be optimistic. Why not? Look at what the country has been subjected to in the last four years. There are people who are in absolute poverty now and cannot provide for their dinner. Seven or eight million people are on the periphery and some ten million are on anti-depressants. Some 3.7 million people are addicts; large number of young people are unemployed while many are now in Europe but want to return even as they are threatened. Look around you, people are threatened. There is pressure on them. We are optimistic that Mr. Rafsanjani will win and end this destructive situation. He cannot of course create miracles but the destructive path (in the fields of economy, foreign policy, and domestic policy) will be stopped.

There are two important points about Mr. Rafsanjani. If he had not been in the country, Talibanism would have by now taken over everything in the country. He has had an effective role in advancing a moderate form of Islam. The second begs the question who in the last four years loudly voiced the people’s concerns? If I take the side of people, it is not important because I do not hold any public office. But when someone holds such an office, it becomes an important issue. Two people defended the public and the prisoners: Mr. Rafsanjani and Mr. Khatami. One must be reasonable about these things and the situation.