Bijan Moomeyvand
In about four months, elections for the eight Majlis will be held in Iran. Ali Reza Rajai is a prominent journalist and researcher who received the necessary votes to become a member in the sixth Majlis, but was denied that right. Rooz held an exclusive interview with Rajai discussing the relationship between the group knows as the national-religious faction and the ruling political group. Read on for the discussion.
Rooz (R ): The group known as the national-religious faction were driven out of power in Iran in early 1980s, and then mostly refrained from taking part in any elections. But they changed their approach and some registered to participate in the fifth Majlis elections. Later, during the reform period they concluded that they had to be present in the political domain and elections of the country. How did they come to this conclusion?
Ali Reza Rajai (ARR): The national-religious movement is made up of different groups. So one cannot reach the conclusion that each or the whole movement has interpreted events in the same fashion since the victory of the 1979 revolution. Still, if one was to make some observable conclusions, it would be possible to say that they had never concluded to always and categorically stay away from elections. Most of the times they made the decision on how to deal with an upcoming elections on the basis of the conditions prevalent at the time, and whether their participation would be productive or not. Sometimes their members registered as candidates for public office, and some were disqualified by elections agencies, which made them feel that perhaps they should not have applied in the first place. After the victory of Mohammad Khatami to the presidency (in Iran known as the 2 Khordad Movement in 1997) the atmosphere to participate in elections became more favorable and the national-religious movement, along with others, welcomed it.
R: In their confrontation with the state, the national-religious groups have stressed that they would operate within the existing legal framework, even though they questioned it. In other words respect for law even though the law was not fully accepted. Elements within the state however did not accept this to be honest and accused them of trying to instigate a “soft” overthrow of the regime. What can the national-religious groups do in this atmosphere of distrust and accusation?
ARR: We really do not know how to pass the current situation. Political activity has its own logic and this is not confined only to the national-religious groups. We have repeatedly said that respect for law is not an ideological issue: it is a necessity. Outside the political sphere and in our normal daily life, we accept the principle of the rule of law, even though we may not agree with many of specific rules and regulations because we have to. They rule over us. But when a legislature or an elections supervisor goes beyond the necessity to observe the law and injects the idea that you must also believe in it, then this is going against the constitution of the country and is in fact imposing a way of life, an ideology and a belief on somebody else. The problem is that supervisory institutions in the Islamic Republic of Iran expect us to believe in their values and way of thought. This is not acceptable. We believe that we should not have to lie (to believe in their values) in order to get into the power structure and political institutions of the country. If we do not believe in something, we should be allowed to keep that. The second point is that nobody has the right to ask anyone what their beliefs are and then use our beliefs in our political activism.
R: If we get a free elections environment and the national-religious groups manage to freely participate in the elections, do you have sufficient operational and executive forces to form a government or a power faction in the Majlis?
ARR: The national-religious groups believe they do. At the same time I would like to add that a coalition government too can solve many problems. So a government with national-religious sentiments, and not necessarily a government that is formed by those who call themselves national-religious groups, can exist if utilizes and lets all groups in society with these sentiments to participate in it. So it can use individuals who do not claim to be members of the national-religious groups, but certainly have national capabilities and dedications. The important thing is to use all forces, regardless of their beliefs, so that many Iranian elite in any cultural and social domain, can participate in the political power structure. In short, Iran is for all Iranians, not just a group with a specific ideology or beliefs.
