My Didgah (View) of Manshoor81

My Response to Initiatives to Form a Viable Iranian Alternative

http://www.ghandchi.com/162-initiatives.htm

FOREWORD-Feb 28, 2003-In September 2002, when various plans for unity of Iranian opposition were proposed by various people/forces, I wrote my opinion of such plans in this article, and I believe my points here are still valid. Manshoor81 (Charter2003) was published on Feb 12, 2003 and I asked people to sign manshoor81and supported it, because this is the least we can expect for an alternative to the Islamic Republic of Iran. I was one of the signatories of the document because I found it to be a minimum that any democratic-minded individual should support for Iran's future, and I hoped such efforts to help the democratic development in Iran, although I believe the alternative organization to lead Iran's future can be formed by a futurist party, and I do not think a minimum platform like manshoor81 can create such an alternative, nonetheless, I supported the effort hoping it may help the endeavors to create a progressive democratic alternative to the Islamic Republic of Iran. I have written my views about the various aspects of the topic of alternative in the past, to achieve a Futurist, Secular, Federal, and Democratic Republic in Iran.

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Well, the $million dollar question:-) How are independent Iranian political forces going to find the money to fund forming an independent party. Am I going to discuss it? No I am not. Why? Because "how" to do something is a question for people who know "what" they want to do and they agree on what they want to achieve. If one wants to make a rocket to go to the moon and another is trying to make the next medicine to cure cancer, they are both having very important tasks as their goals but the discussion about how between the two of them is useless. If one absolutely disagrees with the other about what s/he wants to do, then why should they discuss about "how to do" it? One needs to discuss about "how" with people who agree with him/her about "what to do".

The question about forming an independent political party of Iranians is first and foremost not the issue of "how". In other words, the first issue to address is about "what", or simply what platform we want and we agree on, before we can discuss about how to form the party.

As far as the proposed program for the Iranian Futurist Party, I had written my views in July 2001:

http://www.ghandchi.com/79-FuturistParty.htm

And I wrote my views on the minimum framework to unite the Iranian alternative to the Islamic Republic in Jan 2002:

http://www.ghandchi.com/106-Framework.htm

Basically most of the secular democratic forces are OK with all the sections of what I have in the above documents except for three main differences which I will specify below as ISSUE#1, ISSUE#2, and ISSUE#3:

ISSUE#1-Although accepting UDHR implies the abolition of all Islamic laws of Shari'a, such as the Qesas laws or the laws against the heretics, but I still think it is good to have a line in any platform specifying the need to abolish *all* laws of Islamic Shari'a and to keep Shi'a clergy out of state offices. Especially after the experience of Afghanestan and shamefully ending up with an Islamic government and keeping laws of Shari'a as laws of the land, after all the sacrifices, I think it is necessary to emphasize that we do *not* want *any* form of Islamic government in Iran, and especially to note that we do not want any Islamic laws in the judicial system of future government of Iran:

http://www.ghandchi.com/116-ReligionState.htm

ISSUE#2-I think one should go all the way for a *federal* state in Iran, although getting a consensus on federalism is next to impossible right now, but I think this requirement is a must. I do not know what else I can do to build the consensus on this topic more than what I have done in my following paper, but I think this is absolutely a major issue to emphasize because I think without it, Iran can end up in a nationalist dictatorship or a complete breakup of Iran can follow:

http://www.ghandchi.com/02-Kurds/

http://www.ghandchi.com/175-federalism.htm

ISSUE#3-The need to clearly state opposition to any attempt to make state ownership the main form of ownership in the country. I think after the experience of all the communist countries, it is a shame that some people still do not want to take a clear stand on the issue of state ownership as main form of the country's ownership, which makes the state in the undeveloped countries to be the main owner of the country, and it is the economic foundation of the dictatorship:

http://www.ghandchi.com/144-IsSocialismMoreJust.htm

Finally I think the need is to create new democratic organizations of opposition or democratizing the ones that exist, rather than relying on unity of existing dictatorial political and religious organizations, and that is the way to go. I have written my views about it below:

http://www.ghandchi.com/158-individuals.htm

I welcome various initiatives in the Iranian opposition that may respond to the main body of what I have noted in this article and I support them accordingly.

Hoping for a Futurist, Secular, Federal, and Democratic Republic in Iran.

Sam Ghandchi, Publisher
IRANSCOPE
http://www.iranscope.com
Sept 29, 2003 (Foreword added on Feb 28, 2003)

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