The Need for a Referendum

Leading opposition figure Mehdi Karoubi yesterday called for a national referendum as a way out of the current national crisis and the way to end the rule of the powerful Guardians Council, and in this light once again called on the leaders of the country to allow free demonstrations as provided in article 27 of the constitution. Coinciding with this call, another top opposition personality Mohammad Khatami stressed that “people’s rights cannot be ignored and people too must not get caught in the idea that some people are bypassing and ignoring them. Our mission is to defend the reasonable wants and rights of people, and you can stay assured that we will protect this mission.”

National Referendum

Saham News, the official website of the reformist Etemad Melli (National Trust) party led by Mehdi Karoubi published Mehdi Karoubi’s latest statement in which he says that referendum is the only way to breakthrough the crisis and calls on for one on the basis of article 59 of the Iranian constitution as a way of ending the domination of the Guardians Council.

Karoubi was a presidential contender in the deeply contested 2009 race. In his statement he accuses the Guardians Council of “targeting the sovereignty of people and has gone even beyond appointed supervision,” a term commonly used to stress the unelected and dictatorial nature of the 12-man body whose members are elected by the leader and the Majlis. The body is constitutionally responsible for managing Iran’s national elections and regularly disqualifies a large number of candidates. Karoubi said, “It is these interventions by the body that prevent the free presidential elections, the formation of an independent Experts Assembly for Leadership and Majlis.”

As secretary general of Etemad Melli party, he used the occasion to state that a national referendum was “the only way out of these bottlenecks.” In another part of his statement, he also makes a reference to a recent letter written by a group of Majlis representatives calling for the trial of Mir-Hossein Mousavi and asked, “What kind of a free Majlis is this where people’s representatives have to sign a statement for the trial of sincere statesmen out of fear of the Guardian Council?”

Majlis representatives who support Mahmoud Ahmadinejad had in the past written two letters to the attorney general and other judiciary officials asking them to prosecute Mir-Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karoubi.

“It is through a free Majlis that the principles regarding the fundamental interests and rights of the people, such as freedom of press, changes to the rules over political courts etc will be met,” Karoubi said.

Engineered March

Karoubi further said that the 11th February march commemorating the 31st anniversary of the Islamic revolution in 1979 had been hijacked which he strongly criticized and called the government to issue permits for marches by the opposition.

Karoubi’s statement comes two days after news that he met with Mousavi. In their letter, the two spoke of the February 11 being hijacked in favor of a special group and criticized the use of violence to prevent the opponents from gathering.

And despite the government’s preventive measures on that day, Karoubi thanked the public for participating in the march and said, “This year, the February 11 event took place through the invitation of all the political factions, personalities and senior clerics in the hope of days that would bring a breakthrough of the current national problems and crisis.”

Karoubi said that the totalitarian and violent movement strived to take credit for the February 11 march through the use of the state-run national radio and television and by spreading amoral distortions and deceit.  In his statement he said that the massive turnout on the day had been made possible because of reformists and Principalists, a term used for idealogues.

Questioning the legitimacy of the policies of the administration, Karoubi compared it to the rule of the leading Shiite saint imam Ali and asked, “Did Ali fill his prisons to stay in power?” He then said, “You the people … do not accept that the crimes committed at Kahrizak prison, student dormitories and insults to leading clerics be covered up and your presence on February 11th was not to support these crimes.”

“Those who made their utmost efforts to engineer the February 11 demonstrations and brought people from all over the country by bus and train to Tehran must explain why was the Azadi square itself empty of people when the speech was being delivered,”  the statement further read. The speech is a reference to Ahmadinejad’s speech on that day. Karoubi said that the public is smart enough to understand that reason for the presence of a large police and plainclothes agents force on the occasion.

Gathering in the Desert of Qom

As a way to remove the deceptions presented by the “totalitarians,” Karoubi said that a referendum and free demonstrations should be permitted. He said the government should allow opponents of the administration to hold a gathering in one of Tehran’s squares or a desert so that once and for all, the weight of the various tendencies in the country would be clarified without any pressure or threats.

“Based on the clear rights of the people as provided in article 27 of the constitution, I would like them to issue us the permit to gather in a square in Tehran so we can hold our demonstration so that the majority and minority are clarified. We will take the security of the event ourselves and will guarantee that the march will be held without any destructive slogans: a free march, once for all to clarify the leanings of society for good, without any pressure or threats,” Karoubi’s statement read.

Khatami’s statement on Sunday also said that the February 11 march had been hijacked by a group and criticized the treatment of people, including the continuation of political and media activist detentions.

The former president met with the families of imprisoned journalists and stressed, “protestors participated in this march in a peaceful manner”, adding, “This does not mean all those who cam to the gathering did so in support of a single group. Those who opposed the current policies and actions too came to the square and what they said was that the issue of the revolution and the regime was different from these groups and their policies. But it is unfortunate that we witnessed much insults towards many of them.”

Khatami said that the protestors are a majority, adding, “It was agreed that this majority would come to the streets without any violence, even if insulted. And people showed their maturity, while many women and children were the victims of violence which we regret.”

In his final words, Khatami said that to have journalists in prison was not something to be proud of. “Worse than the actual inappropriate arrest and imprisonment of journalists which hurt our national interest the most, such acts are the most serious cause for tension, divisions, incite, violence, lies and slander against others,” he said.