Mehdi Moqaddari, a reformist activist and a member of The Organization for Justice and Freedom in Iran, says hope has evaporated for political reforms in Iran.
With hardliners loyal to Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei occupying key government institutions by manipulating elections, most reformist and non-partisan observers have given up hope for steering the Islamic Republic toward democracy.
In an interview with the moderate Rouydad24 news website in Tehran, Moqaddari said the government’s security approach to politics has led to political disillusionment for even loyal reformist politicians and led them to inaction and despair. There is no hope in a miracle in Iran, he said.
He added that there are two types of reformists in Iran: One group that is committed to values such as freedom, human rights and equality and is working to establish good governance through a transition to democracy, and another group that takes advantage of the idea of reformism as a brand only to be get a share in the country’s political dynamics.
The first group has been pushed out of the country’s political landscape by the totalitarian hard core of the regime and they are no longer capable of confronting those who have made elections meaningless and eliminated the republican nature of the government.The other group is happy to take part in the non-competitive elections in a minimal way, Moqaddari explained.
He added that the situation should be alarming for the regime as well as for Iran’s political community and civil society. The immigration of Iranian political activists and academic elites is a result of this reality.
Asked why Iranians no longer welcome the idea of reformism, Moqaddari said that the disillusionment and despair is not about reformism. The people are annoyed by the entire political system as their non-participation in recent elections have shown.
A recent online opinion poll by a Netherlands-based institute found that over 60 percent of Iranians want regime change or “transition from the Islamic Republic”.
Source » iranintl