Iranian reformists

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
(Redirected from 2nd of Khordad Movement)
Jump to navigation Jump to search

Template:Short description Script error: No such module "For".

Script error: No such module "Infobox".Template:Template otherScript error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". Template:Liberalism in Iran Template:Sidebar with collapsible lists Template:Contains special characters The Reformists (Template:Langx) are a Islamic liberal political faction in Iran. Iran's "reform era" is sometimes said to have lasted from 1997 to 2005—the length of President Mohammad Khatami's two terms in office.[1] The Council for Coordinating the Reforms Front is the main umbrella organization and coalition within the movement; however, there are reformist groups not aligned with the council, such as the Reformists Front. Masoud Pezeshkian, a reformist, was elected president following the 2024 Iranian presidential election, and was subsequently confirmed by Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei on 28 July.[2][3]

Background

Organizations

The 2nd of Khordad Movement usually refers not only to the coalition of 18 groups and political parties of the reforms front[4] but to anyone else who was a supporter of the 1997 reform programs of Khatami.

The reforms front consists of several political parties, some of the most famous including the following:

Ideas

Some Iranian intellectuals were involved in establishing a foundation for the movement. Perhaps the most influential figure was Abdolkarim Soroush. For many years, he was the only voice publicly criticizing the regime's policies. His regular lectures at Tehran University used to enjoy the attendance of many of the Iranian students who later generated the 2nd of Khordad movement. Many famous figures of the movement belong to the Soroush circle. However, at the rise of 2nd of Khordad movement, Saeed Hajjarian acted as the main theorist behind the movement and the main strategist in Khatami's camp.

The movement has been described as changing the key terms in public discourse: emperialism (imperialism), mostazafen (poor), jehad (jihad), mojahed (mujahideen), shahed (martyrdom), khish (roots), enqelab (revolution) and Gharbzadegi (Western intoxication), to some modern terms and concepts like: demokrasi (democracy), moderniyat (modernity), azadi (liberty), barabari (equality), jam'eh-e madani (civil society), hoquq-e beshar (human rights), mosharekat-e siyasi (political participation), Shahrvandi (citizenship), etc.[7]

Supporters

The core of the reform movement is said to be made up of Islamic leftists disqualified from running for office as they were purged and generally disempowered by Islamic conservatives following the death of Imam Khomeini in 1989.[8] Islamic leftists turned reformists include Abdolkarim Soroush, Saeed Hajjarian, Akbar Ganji, Ali Akbar Mohtashami-Pur, Ebrahim Asgharzadeh, Mohsen Mirdamadi, Mir-Hossein Mousavi, and the Anjoman-e-Eslami (Islamic Association) and Office for Strengthening Unity student groups.

Many institutions support the movement of reformation such as organizations like Organization of the Mojahedin of the Islamic Revolution (OMIR) and the Majma’a Rohaneeyoon Mobarez or the Forum of the Militant Clergy, or Office for Fostering Unity and Freedom Movement of Iran. There were also many media outlets in support like the Iran-e-farda and kian magazinez.[9]

Khatami's support is said to have cut across regions and class lines with even some members of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, Qom seminarians[7] and Basij members voting for him.[10] The core of his electoral support, however, came from the modern middle class, college students, women, and urban workers.[7] For example, by 1995, about half of Iran's 60.5 million people were too young to be alive at the time of the Islamic Revolution.[11]

Major events

Script error: No such module "Unsubst".

1997 presidential election

Script error: No such module "Labelled list hatnote".

The movement began with the May 23, 1997, surprise victory of Mohammad Khatami, "a little known cleric",[12] to the presidency on with almost 70% of the vote.

Khatami is regarded as Iran's first reformist president, since the focus of his campaign was on the rule of law, democracy and the inclusion of all Iranians in the political decision-making process.

Assassination attempt on Saeed Hajjarian

Very soon after the rise of the 2nd of Khordad movement, there was an attempted assassination of Saeed Hajjarian, the main strategist of the reformist camp. In March 2000, he was shot in the face on the doorstep of Tehran's city council by a gunman who fled on a motorcycle with an accomplice. The bullet entered through his left cheek and lodged in his neck. He was not killed but was "badly paralyzed"[13] for some time. During his coma, groups of young Iranians kept a vigil outside Sina hospital, where he was being treated. Due to this injury, Hajjarian now uses a walking frame, and his voice is distorted.[14][15]

His convicted assailant Saeed Asgar, a young man who was reported to be a member of the Basij militia, served only a small part of his 15-year jail sentence.[13][14]

Ganji and Red Eminence and Grey Eminences

Red Eminence and Grey Eminences (Template:Langx "Alijenabe Sorkhpoosh, Alijenabane Khakestari") is the name of a series of newspaper articles and a book written by Akbar Ganji under the responsibility of Saeed Hajjarian, in which he criticized former president Akbar Rafsanjani as the "Red Eminence" and the intelligence officers in his government, such as Ali Fallahian, as the "Grey Eminences". His subsequent prosecution and conviction for "anti-Islamic activities" for his role in the publication of the book and articles cost Akbar Ganji six years of imprisonment.[16]

1999 local elections

Reformist candidates did remarkably well in the 1999 local elections and received 75% of the vote.[17]

18th of Tir crisis (1999)

Script error: No such module "Labelled list hatnote". The 18th of Tir (July 9) crisis, refers to a demonstration in Tehran University dormitory in reaction to closing Salam newspaper by the government. Demonstrations continued for a few days in most cities in Iran and in more than ninety-five countries worldwide. The demonstration ended in violence and the death of a young Iranian citizen along with many casualties. At the time, it was Iran's biggest antigovernment demonstrations since the 1979 Islamic revolution. After attacking of the students of Tehran University by hardline vigilante group, Khatami delivered a speech three months later while defending of his reform programme and at the same time he insisted on the foundations of his government. He referred to the reformation of system from within with holding two elements of Islamic and republic.[9]

18th of Tir national day of protest (2003)

In 2003, Iran's leading pro-democracy student group, the Daftar-e Tahkim-e-Vahdat called for a national day of protest on the 18th of Tir to commemorate the original 1999 protest. At least one observer believes it was the failure of this protest that "delivered a fatal blow to the reform movement."[18]

According to journalist Afshin Molavi, many Iranians hoped the day would lead to an uprising that would "break the back" of the hardliners, but instead the Islamic Republic "employed violence, intimidation, and sophisticated carrot-and-stick approach to suck the wind out of the demonstrations." In addition to a show of force and numerous checkpoints, the state used sophisticated jamming technology to block satellite TV feeds and allowed the holding of (rare) outdoor pop concerts to draw young people away from the demonstrations. Dartar-e Tahkim-e-Vahdat also hurt its cause by calling for foreigners, specifically the UN - to assist it against the government.[19]

6th Parliament (2000)

In the Iranian parliamentary elections, 2000 to elect the 6th parliament, reformist enjoyed a majority (69.25%), or 26.8 million, of the 38.7 million voters who cast ballots in the February 18, 2000 first round. Ultimately reformists won 195 of the 290 Majlis seats in that election.[17]

7th Parliament (2004)

In January 2004, shortly before the 2004 Iranian legislative elections (the 7th Parliament), the conservative Council of Guardians ended Iranian voters' continued support for reformists by banning about 2500 candidates, nearly half of the total, including 80 sitting Parliament deputies. More than 100 MPs resigned in protest and critics complained the move "shattered any pretense of Iranian democracy".[20]

27 Khordad presidential election (2005)

File:Iranians campaigning.jpg
A rally supporting Mostafa Moeen, a reformist candidate in the 2005 elections

In the 27 Khordad presidential election (June 17, 2005), Mostafa Moin and Mehdi Karroubi were the main candidates of the 2nd of Khordad movement. However, neither made it to the second round of the election (the final runoff): Moin came in fifth and Karroubi third in the first round. As a result, many supporters of the reform movement lost hope and did not participate in the election.

2009 Iranian presidential election

Script error: No such module "Labelled list hatnote". Script error: No such module "Labelled list hatnote".

File:Mohammad Khatami - December 11, 2007.jpg
Mohammad Khatami

The two leading reformist candidates in the 2009 presidential election were Mir-Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karroubi. Mousavi supporters disbelieved the election results and initiated a series of protests that lasted several days. After many days of protesting against the election results, the protests eventually turned violent as the Basij (loyal militia to the Islamic Republic) started attacking the protesters and vice versa. Some protesters turned their anger to the government itself and tried to overthrow the Islamic Republic. The protests, in general, lasted up to several months.[6]

2024 Iranian presidential election

Script error: No such module "Labelled list hatnote".

Masoud Pezeshkian was elected in a snap election after the death of Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, who died in a helicopter crash on 19 May 2024.[21] He secured nearly 16.4 million of the more than 30 million votes cast, beating his main rival Saeed Jalili, who received approximately 13.5 million in a run-off election, according to the official count.[22] The election was generally seen as an upset victory for the Reformists' faction with many political observers expecting low voter turnout.[22] Pezeshkian is described as a centrist, in stark contrast to his predecessor, Raisi, who was described as a "hard-liner." He has promised several economic, political, and cultural reforms; however, several obstacles remain in the way, primarily Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who retains decision-making authority on all major state issues.[23]

Obstacles to the Movement

The Reformists' Party often struggles with realizing its agenda as described by The Economist magazine:

Dozens of newspapers opened during the Khatami period, only for many to be shut down on one pretext or another by the judiciary. Clerics who took advantage of the new atmosphere to question the doctrine of velayat-e faqih [Islamic government] were imprisoned or otherwise cowed. Even as political debate blossomed, Iran's security services cracked down on religious and ethnic minorities. A number of the government's critics fell victim to murders traced later to the interior ministry. In 1999, police reacted to a peaceful demonstration for freer speech by invading Tehran University, beating and arresting hundreds of students and killing at least one. In the Majlis (parliament) much of the president's reforming legislation was vetoed by the Council of Guardians, a committee of clerics appointed by the supreme leader to ensure that laws conform with Islamic precepts.[24]

Saeed Hajjarian, the main theorist behind the movement, declared in 2003 that "the reform movement is dead. Long live the reform movement".[25]

The victory of conservatives in the 2005 presidential election and the 2004 Majlis election can be explained "not so much" by an expansion of "their limited core base as by [their] dividing of the reformers and [their] discouraging them from voting," according to political historian Ervand Abrahamian:

The conservatives won in part because they retained their 25% base; in part because they recruited war veterans to run as their candidates; in part because they wooed independents on the issue of national security; but in most part because large numbers of women, college students, and other members of the salaried middle class stayed home. Turnout in the Majles elections fell below 51% - one of the worst since the revolution. In Tehran, it fell to 28%.[26]

Limitations

The reform movement has been lamented as "too divided to establish its own political authority, too naïve about the tenacity of the authoritarian elite around Khamenei, and too inflexible to circumvent the ban on political parties in Iran by creating and sustaining alternative forms of mobilisation."[27] In addition, leaders of the reform movement lacked a clear and coherent strategy of establishing durable and extensive linkages with the public.

Ironically, they became a victim of their electoral successes. The reform movement's "control of both the presidency and parliament from 2000 to 2004 made it look inept and a part of the corrupt system in the eyes of many Iranians."[28]

Secularism

BBC journalist Jonathan Beale reports that since secularism is banned in Iran, it is an ideology that is mostly followed by political organizations among the Iranian diaspora or by many of the anti-sharia political parties in exile that are secular. These parties promote regime change, most often with foreign aid and military intervention (particularity from the United States). He quotes a former leader of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards, Mohsen Sazegara (also one of its founders), as saying, "Don't interfere. Leave these affairs to the Iranian people". Sazegara believes the US should call for democracy and freedom, and let Iranian opposition groups inside Iran, which are Reformists, take the lead, instead of attempting to create an opposition in exile.[29]

Referendum movement

The Referendum movement calls in effect for a rerun of the 1979 referendum that established the Islamic Republic in Iran: "a 'yes or no' vote on whether today's Iranians still want the authoritarian Islamic Republic that another generation's revolution brought them." It is said to have been born out of "the ashes of the failures of Khatami's Islamic democracy movement" and reflected in one-word graffiti on walls in Tehran saying "no".[30] It has been criticized as calling for complete system change without "building the political and organisational network to back it up" and inviting a brutal crackdown, with "no means on the ground to resist it".[31]

Election results

President

Template:No sources

President of Iran
Date Candidate Supported % Votes Rank Notes
1997 Mohammad Khatami 69.6 20,078,187 1st Supported by Combatant Clerics and ExecutivesScript error: No such module "Unsubst".
2001 77.1 21,659,053 1st Supported by Participation Front, Mojahedin, Combatant Clerics and ExecutivesScript error: No such module "Unsubst".
2005/1 Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani 21.13 6,211,937 1st Supported by ExecutivesScript error: No such module "Unsubst".
Mehdi Karroubi 17.24 5,070,114 3rd Supported by Combatant ClericsScript error: No such module "Unsubst".
Mostafa Moeen 13.89 4,083,951 5th Supported by Participation Front and MojahedinScript error: No such module "Unsubst".
Mohsen Mehralizadeh 4.38 1,288,640 7th No major party supportScript error: No such module "Unsubst".
2005/2 Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani 35.93 10,046,701 2nd
2009 Mir-Hossein Mousavi 33.75 13,338,121 2nd Supported by Participation Front, Mojahedin, Executives and Combatant ClericsScript error: No such module "Unsubst".
Mehdi Karroubi 0.85 333,635 4th National Trust Party Candidate
2013 Hassan Rouhani 50.88 18,692,500 1st endorsed by Council for coordinating the Reforms FrontScript error: No such module "Unsubst".
2017 Hassan Rouhani 57.13 23,549,616 1st Unanimous reformist supportScript error: No such module "Unsubst".
2021 Abdolnaser Hemmati 9.81 2,443,387 3rd Executives Candidate
2024/1 Masoud Pezeshkian 44.40 10,415,991 1st Supported by Moderation and Development Party, National Trust Party, <templatestyles src="Template:Tooltip/styles.css" />CRWPScript error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".[32][33][34]
2024/2 Masoud Pezeshkian 54.76 16,384,403 1st

Presidential

Election Candidate % Rank Party
1997 Mohammad Khatami 69.07 1st style="background:Template:Party color"rowspan="2"|ACC
2001 78.28 1st
2005 Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani 35.93 2nd ECP
2009 Mir-Hossein Mousavi 33.75 2nd GPH
2013 Hassan Rouhani 50.88 1st MDP
2017 57.13 1st
2021 Abdolnaser Hemmati 9.81 3rd ECP
2024 Masoud Pezeshkian 54.76 1st IND

Parliament

Election Seats +/- % Rank Position/Gov.
2000 Template:Composition bar Increase 97 76.55% Increase 1st Majority
2004 Template:Composition bar Decrease 175 16.20% Decrease 2nd Minority
2008 Template:Composition bar Increase 4 17.58% Steady 2nd Opposition
2012 Template:Composition bar Decrease 29 7.58% Decrease 3rd Opposition
2016 Template:Composition bar Increase 110 45.51% Increase 1st Minority
2020 Template:Composition bar Decrease 101 10.68% Decrease 3rd Opposition
2024 Template:Composition bar Increase 16 16.20% Increase 2nd Minority

Assembly of Experts

Election Seats +/− % Rank Alliance
1998 Template:Composition bar Increase 32 37.20% Increase 2nd ECP
2006 Template:Composition bar Decrease 3 32.95% Steady 2nd NTP
2016 Template:Composition bar Increase 26 62.50% Increase 1st PE
2024 Template:Composition bar Decrease 54 1.13% Decrease 3rd IND

Local councils

Election Seats +/− %
1999 Template:Composition bar Increase 579 71.04%
2003 No data exists
2006 Template:Composition bar Increase 26 39.69%
2013 Template:Composition bar Decrease 517 18.37%
2017 Template:Composition bar Increase 77 51.56%
2021 No data exists

Coalition organizations

Reformists' Supreme Council for Policymaking

On 8 November 2015, the establishment of the council was announced.[35] It oversees the Council for Coordinating the Reforms Front, which its rotating head serves as the deputy head of the council for policymaking.[36] Moderation and Development Party joined the council in April 2017.[37] Some members of the council include:

Council for Coordinating the Reforms Front

Script error: No such module "Labelled list hatnote".

Reformists Front

Script error: No such module "Labelled list hatnote".

Parliamentary leaders

# Name Tenure Fraction Ref
From To
1 Abdollah Nouri 1996 1997 Hezbollah Assembly [42]
2 Majid Ansari 1997 2000 [43]
3 Ali Akbar Mohtashamipur 2000 2004 2nd of Khordad
4 Hossein Hashemian 2004 2008 Imam's Line
5 Mohammad Reza Tabesh 2008 2012
No reformist parliamentary group between 2012 and 2016Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".
6 Mohammad Reza Aref 2016 2020 Hope
No reformist parliamentary group between 2020 and 2024Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".

Parties

<templatestyles src="Col-begin/styles.css"/>

Organizations

<templatestyles src="Col-begin/styles.css"/>

Media

<templatestyles src="Col-begin/styles.css"/>

See also

Script error: No such module "Portal".

References

Template:Notelist

<templatestyles src="Reflist/styles.css" />

  1. ↑ Ebadi, Shirin, Iran Awakening, by Shirin Ebadi with Azadeh Moaveni, Random House New York, 2006, p.180
  2. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  3. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  4. ↑ a b Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  5. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  6. ↑ a b c d Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  7. ↑ a b c Abrahamian, History of Modern Iran, (2008), p.186
  8. ↑ Molavi, Afshin, The Soul of Iran, Norton, (2005), p.98
  9. ↑ a b Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  10. ↑ Molavi, Afshin, The Soul of Iran, Norton, (2005), p.149
  11. ↑ Brumberg, Daniel, Reinventing Khomeini : The Struggle for Reform in Iran, University of Chicago Press, 2001, p.188
  12. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  13. ↑ a b Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  14. ↑ a b Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  15. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  16. ↑ عالیجنابان سرخپوش و عالیجنابان خاکستری، آسیب شناسی گذار به دولت دمکراتیک توسعه گرا Template:ISBN
  17. ↑ a b Abrahamian, Ervand, History of Modern Iran, Columbia University Press, 2008, p.188
  18. ↑ Molavi, The Soul of Iran, (2005), p.313
  19. ↑ Molavi, The Soul of Iran, (2005), p.315-9
  20. ↑ Iran: an afternoon with a hostage-taker, Afshin Molavi Template:Webarchive 10-11-2005
  21. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  22. ↑ a b Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  23. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  24. ↑ "Men of principle", The Economist. London: Jul 21, 2007. Vol. 384, Iss. 8538; pg. 5
  25. ↑ اصلاحات مرد زنده باد اصلاحات
  26. ↑ Abrahamian, Ervand, A History of Modern Iran, Cambridge University Press, 2008, p.194, 3
  27. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  28. ↑ Gunes Murat Tezcur, ''Muslim Reformers in Iran and Turkey: The Paradox of Moderation Template:Webarchive, University of Texas Press, 2010, p. 140.
  29. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  30. ↑ Molavi, Afshin, The Soul of Iran, (2005), p.311
  31. ↑ Iran's referendum movement Template:Webarchive| Kaveh Ehsani| 13 April 2005
  32. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  33. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  34. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  35. ↑ a b c d e Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  36. ↑ a b Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  37. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  38. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  39. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  40. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  41. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  42. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  43. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".

Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".

Script error: No such module "Navbox".

Retrieved from "http://debianws.lexgopc.com/wiki143/index.php?title=Iranian_reformists&oldid=4913355"