‎

Hossein Mohammadi

Hasan Yousefi Eshkevari is a dissident cleric who was initially sentenced to death for his ‎participation in an academic conference in Berlin, Germany, on Iran many years ago. ‎Eshkevari was later released after spending four years in prison, but he is no longer ‎permitted to wear the cleric's robes. We have spoken with Eshkevari about the upcoming ‎Majlis parliamentary elections and issues facing the nation. Below are the excerpts of the ‎interview. ‎

Rooz (R): The upcoming Majlis elections are a hot topic in Iranian politics. It seems as ‎if the election atmosphere has arrived earlier this year. What, in your opinion, are factors ‎accounting for this? ‎

Hasan Yousei Eshkevari (HYE): If we go back and review the build up to every election ‎in the Islamic Republic, we see that officials, individuals and political parties, and in ‎general, the movers and shakers of the political scene, always speak of the “importance” ‎and “life changing” nature of any upcoming elections and invite the public to participate. ‎Given the special conditions surrounding each election, this claim is true to some degree. ‎However, the Islamic Republic reverts to this as a tactic to merely mobilize people ahead ‎of the vote. ‎

The same policy is at work for the upcoming Eight Majlis parliamentary elections. The ‎aim is to mobilize the public and increase voter turnout. At the same time, it is true that, ‎with the complete elimination of reformists, the performance of the Seventh Majlis and ‎the administration, the very negative performance of these two, and the consequential bad ‎economic, political, social and cultural conditions, and the dangers that are threatening ‎the nation and society, the reformists are hopeful of victory and a return to government, ‎and more moderate conservatives are also hoping to find appropriate replacements to ‎prevent a complete domination by hardliners. In the middle of this, people and especially ‎intellectuals and the urban middle class are interested in the continuation of the reformist ‎project. All of these factors are involved in making the Eight Majlis elections a hot topic ‎and the build up will continue in the coming days. ‎

R: How much will these elections help the process of democratization in Iran? ‎

HYE: On 6 Tir, 1384 [one day after Ahmadinejad’s election] I wrote in “Rooz” that until ‎further notice democracy will not come out of the Guardian Council’s box, and I still ‎stand by what I said. The leadership of the conservative faction has decided that no ‎serious and influential reformist must find his way into important and key [and even ‎insignificant] government positions. However, this does not mean that these elections ‎have no effect on the democratization process, and that people and political actors should ‎be indifferent to them. ‎

R: What is your prediction of disqualifications, given the remarks of members of the ‎Guardian Council? ‎

HYE: I have no doubt that the Guardian Council, acting on behalf of state leaders, will ‎not allow any serious and democratic-minded reformist candidates to even participate in ‎the election process and will never allow reformists to comprise the majority faction or ‎even an influential minority faction in the Majlis. However, if the Guardian Council is ‎less strict, then it is possible that some moderate and less influential reformists can find ‎their way into the Majlis and the current minority faction will increase in size by a few ‎members. ‎