Hossein Mohammadi

Dr. Ebrahim Yazdi is the head of the Liberation Front of Iran, a political party that has ‎been banned for years but is still active in the country’s political scene. The 2005 ‎presidential election brought the Liberation Front closer to reformist parties such as the ‎Participation Front. We have spoken to Dr. Yazdi about the upcoming Majlis elections ‎and issues facing the nation. Below is an excerpt of this interview. ‎

Rooz (R): The hot political topic in Iran right now is the Eight Majlis elections. It seems ‎as if the discussion has begun earlier this year compared to previous ones. What is the ‎reason for this in your opinion? ‎

Ebrahim Yazdi (EY): The Eight Majlis elections will determine the future directions of ‎the Islamic Republic. If powerful rulers refuse or are unable to put a halt to the Guardian ‎Council’s interference in elections and disqualification of progressive candidates, the era ‎of reforms will be over and the regime will face challenges of a different kind. ‎

‎(R): How much do you think the elections will help the process of democratization in ‎Iran? ‎

‎(EY): If the Guardian Council changes its approach or behaves in the way it did from the ‎First to Fifth Majlis elections, or the composition of the Council changes in favor of ‎people who believe in principles of republicanism and self-determination, then ‎democratization will speed up. ‎

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

‎(EY): If things continue to play out the way they have been, the Guardian Council will ‎do what it did during the Seventh Majlis elections. ‎

‎(R): Will the wave of disqualifications also affect moderate reformists such as E’temad ‎Melli or independent candidates? ‎

‎(EY): The policy of Guardian Council and its backers is based on “all or nothing,” or ‎‎“either with me or against me.” For them, moderate and independent has no meaning and ‎will include everyone. ‎

‎(R): What do you think reformists will do to face possible disqualification? Will parties ‎like the Participation Front and Mojahedin of the Revolution be on the sidelines like in ‎the city council elections? ‎

‎(EY): The Eight Majlis elections are different than city council elections. In city council ‎elections, all candidates from all parties were qualified. The reformists lost because they ‎provided multiple slates and their votes were divided between the slates. However, in the ‎upcoming elections, the Guardian Council will most likely disqualify almost all ‎‎[reformist] candidates. But it’s not very clear how reformists will respond to this. If all ‎reformist groups demand a change of behavior in the Guardian Council as a precondition ‎to their participation in the elections, then the Guardian Council may change its approach, ‎at least for those groups. ‎