Ninth Majlis to be Tamer

Rooz Onlline -- Last week’s Majlis elections are not yet final: 65 seats out of 290 have been moved to the 2nd round while contradictory figures continue to be reported on the current results. We talked to Mohammad-Reza Jalaeipour, a prominent reformist and 2009 activist in Mir-Hossein Mousavi’s presidential campaign, who was subsequently imprisoned, about last week’s election, their outcome and the unexpected voting of Mr. Mohammad Khatami.

We began the interview with Jalaeipour’s comments on last week’s election who said:

I am still analyzing the election. We must understand how it was held and what was going on at the ballot boxes. Officials have announced some figures but witnesses on the scene present a different picture and say at least 18 percent of these figures are questionable.

Rooz: There are also reports that the election figures provided for the large cities are not factual whereas those provided for the rural areas may be accurate because the issues in the provinces are social and local rather than national and political.

Jalaeipour: This too needs to be analyzed. We must see whether people themselves felt that the elections were exciting. Those who were apparently witnesses to the events do not believe such an excitement existed, neither in Tehran nor in the provinces.

Rooz: What is your opinion of the elections till now?

Jalaeipour: It is too soon to make conclusions. One can only point to some signs. For example, many hardliners did not get the vote. They don’t seem to be happy. Some new moderates have got in. To see whether these new comers can create a new base we must wait and let them start their work. So I have not come to my final conclusion yet.

Rooz: But can’t the general picture of the new Majlis be deduced” Have Mr. Ahmadinejad’s supporters for example created a majority in the Majlis? What about the Steadfast Front (Jebhe Paidari) or the independents?

Jalaeipour: Absolutely no. The Steadfast Front does not belong to Ahmadinejad. The United Front (Jebhe Tohid) that they recently formed may be said to belong to Ahmadinejad. His own sister did not get the vote in her birth town. So I think his supporters did not get all the votes. Most of the seats have gone to the United Front, then the independents and finally the Steadfast Front.

Rooz: So with this picture, what will the future political scene look like?

Jalaeipour: Under the current conditions the role of the Majlis will depend on the political managers of the country. If they want to manage affairs through soft and moderate means, then this Majlis will be very useful for them. Even if they decide to be in line with the existing hardliners, I doubt this Majlis will create any problems for them. The new Majlis may be more efficient and productive in domestic issues because its members have a higher education status. But in foreign affairs I doubt this because this is basically a tamer Majlis.

Rooz: Relative to the eight Majlis?

Jalaeipour: Yes. The friend members of the Steadfast Front in the Majlis have had a harsh and brutish behavior with lots of noise. In contrast, these new comers are more positive, respectful and perhaps better educated as most of them have a university Master’s degree.

Rooz: So what will be Mr. Ahmadinejad’s position in this picture that you portray?

Jalaeipour: He has been illusionary right from 2005. This however did not contradict the interests of the other main forces then. His illusion made him believe that he is really somebody by himself. For example, he boycotted coming to work for a number of days believing that people are supportive of him. But that proved that he really is nobody. The people that he thought were his supporters were there only so long as the police and the Revolutionary Guards supported him. If he really had any popular support this would have emerged during those eleven days [when he boycotted going to work in protest]. But he no longer enjoys a prominent position and his tenure will finish soon. Even this he owes to Mr. Khamenei. This is Khamenei’s style anyway who for example says now that Mr. Khatami has won, let him stay for eight years. Mr. Rafsanjani won, so he let him stay. Now Mr. Ahmadinejad has won, he too must stay for eight years. If it was not for Mr. Khamenei’s grace, then the United Front would not have tolerated Ahmadinejad even for a day.

Rooz: What was the cause of Mr. Ahmadinejad’s failure?

Jalaeipour: He has had a number of characteristics. One of them was that when he came to power he threw out all the thirty-year managers. Nobody does something like this and none of the other presidential candidates such as Larijani or Qalibaf would have done something like this. His second characteristic is that he wanted to attract the attention and support of the lower social classes. He had no relations with the middle class. He even tried to drive them out of Tehran. On paper, they claim to have reduced the population of the capital by two million people. His promises of bringing oil money to the table of the poor did not materialize. He only brought harm: economic crisis, liquidity issues for the country, etc.

Rooz: What will come of the reform movement? You have said that they are not productive and you have criticized them.

Jalaeipour: Look at our society: we have 77 million people most of whom are young. This nation has been trying to modernize for the past hundred years. I do not believe that Iran is a Third World and an undeveloped nation. We have a modern society with a bad façade, among which is its politics. Look, elections take place but after the event instead of people accepting the results and going about their life and responsibilities, society splits up! This is not an undeveloped society and there is a drive to modernize. Here is an example. Four years ago I travelled to a village in Ilam. The women there were complaining why their medical center did not have a sonography (ultrasound) unit. This is the same village whose women just thirty years ago would never go to a medical center to deliver her baby. Modernity is not reading Emmanuelle Kant’s books. People desire modern amenities in their routine daily life. So the path to modernity must remain open in society. This is because there is demand for reforms. Just look at these last elections. They say those that voted constituted only 25 percent, as the reformers did not vote, but still Ali Motahari wins a seat. This country is still blessed with oil money. If that ends, then people like Ahmadinejad cannot promise to bring oil money to the dinner table. Then they will all have to unite to run the country, i.e., then they must respect the demands of those who are calling for reforms.

Rooz: Any talk about last week’s Majlis election invariably brings up the subject of Mr. Mohammad Khatami’s unexpected voting. Everybody is talking about and you too have a right to comment on it.

Jalaeipour: His policies have been caring, moderate and based on advice with the purpose of creating conditions that would allow the government and people to heal their scars, and improve their relations. So he presented certain conditions (demands) for this goal. And when the conditions were not met he said that there was no place left for them to participate in and present a list of candidates. But he never talked of boycotting the election. I have not had the opportunity to ask him about the reasons for his participation in the election. My interpretation is that he is very concerned. Concerned that hardliners will take the upper hand after the election. This is because there are those who have said that they have a solution regarding the “seditionists” and “deviant” groups and forces (terms Iranian authorities use for the Green Movement reformers and some members of Ahmadinejad’s inner circle). They have also said that they want to finally settle the issue of reformers because they boycotted the election. But whatever his reasons, his action has disappointed some who have said that with his participation in the Majlis election there will no longer be internal reformers inside the regime. But this is not new as many in the past had said that the reformers were done and ceased to exist.

Rooz: But what do you think of his voting? What is the impact of this on the reform movement?

Jalaeipour: His act does not contradict the reform perspective. He has voted for the Islamic republic too, not for a specific person. He also talks about the Islamic republic not Islamic administration. The criticism against him is that he could have achieved his goal through other means.

Rooz: Such as what?

Jalaeipour: What he wanted to say was that despite the criticism that we have against you, despite your rejection of my or our proposals for reform, we are not at war with you and desire to work with you. He should have announced this earlier. Fifty people like Mr. Khatami could have gotten together and done this. Why did he do it alone, they ask.

But this relates to Mr. Khatami’s personality and psyche. Do you remember 2009? For nine months so many young people gathered and begged Mr. Khatami to come. He came and went to Shiraz and then one day he simply said he would not go. This is another criticism people have against him.

Rooz: So you are against this?

Jalaeipour: Look, the essence of what he did is not wrong. He wanted to say we are not at conflict with you. But there were better ways to do this. This act has affected the election. It has affected the youth. We have two types of youth; one that is not interested in anything and does not even like the appearance of this movement. The other section of the youth are those who have an issue with the rulers. They argue that they are a young population who want to better run this country. Are these reformers? Are they moderates Muslims? Whatever they are, they are angry. I think those who call for regime change are probably not unhappy about this, but this youth group is angry and unhappy. They argue that even though hardliners brutally threw reformers out of government, but the reformers gained respect in society and that they should not destroy this respect.