15 Iranian Political and Civil Activists Call for a Referendum Under UN Supervision

Fifteen political and civil activists, lawyers, and filmmakers, emphasizing the "irreformability" of the Islamic Republic regime, have called for a referendum under the supervision of the United Nations for a "peaceful transition" from the current government "to a secular parliamentary democracy." The statement emphasizes that "the solution to these fundamental problems is a peaceful transition from the Islamic Republic system to a secular parliamentary democracy based on the free votes of the people, full respect for human rights, and the elimination of all institutional discrimination, particularly full equality for women, ethnicities, religions, and sects in all cultural, social, political, and economic fields." The signatories of the statement have called for "holding a referendum to determine the type of government under the supervision of the United Nations" so that, according to them, "the Iranian people can take responsibility for their destiny by determining their preferred form of government and make an effective and collective effort to address the existing crises." Nasrin Sotoudeh, Shirin Ebadi, Narges Mohammadi, Payam Akhavan, Jafar Panahi, Mohsen Sazgara, Mohammad Seifzadeh, Hassan Shariati, Heshmatollah Tabarzadi, Abolfazl Ghadiani, Mohsen Kadivar, Kazem Kordvani, Mohsen Makhmalbaf, Mohammad Maleki, and Mohammad Nourizad have signed this statement. Previously, several critical political and civil activists have proposed holding a referendum. Notably, Jafar Panahi, a famous Iranian director, after the protests in January across more than 100 cities in Iran, urged the Islamic Republic authorities to allow a referendum or free demonstrations to determine the level of popular support for the government. The authorities of the Islamic Republic have previously rejected proposals for UN supervision of elections and labeled the proponents of these proposals as "traitors" and "agents of foreign powers." Meanwhile, Article 177 of the Islamic Republic's Constitution states that "the content of the principles related to the Islamic nature of the system" and "the republican nature of the government and the guardianship of the nation and the leadership of the community, as well as the administration of the country's affairs based on public votes and the official religion and sect of Iran, are immutable." In their statement, the 15 civil activists referred to issues such as "ignorance, structural inefficiency, and institutionalized corruption, discrimination, oppressive laws, and widespread imprisonment" of journalists, teachers, students, workers, and political and social activists, emphasizing that "the collective experiences of 40 years indicate the irreformability of the Islamic Republic of Iran." The statement emphasizes that the Islamic Republic has "become the main obstacle to the progress and liberation of the Iranian people by hiding behind divine concepts, using religion instrumentally, practicing lies and deception, disregarding public opinion, violating the rule of law and human rights standards, institutionalizing the violation of freedom and the rights of the people, and being excessively incapable of solving political, economic, social, and cultural crises, as well as blocking all legal oversight and peaceful reform methods." Previously, a survey in Iran conducted in light of the January protests showed that 75% of participants were dissatisfied with the conditions. Meanwhile, Abolfazl Ghadiani, a senior member of the Mojahedin-e Khalq Organization and a signatory of this statement, last week referred to a letter from Mehdi Karroubi, a leader of the protests against the 2009 election results, calling the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the "dictator of today's Iran" and urged reformist figures in Iran not to "compromise" any further on "the rights of the people" with the Supreme Leader. Mr. Ghadiani also criticized the reformists and their approach to recent protests, accusing them of "capitulation and complacency." While these 15 political and civil activists have proposed holding a referendum under UN supervision, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani stated on Sunday, February 11, that in matters of disagreement between the institutions of the Islamic Republic, a referendum should be resorted to. According to Article 59 of the Iranian Constitution, "in very important economic, political, social, and cultural issues, the legislative power may be exercised through a referendum and direct reference to the people's votes. The request for public votes must be approved by two-thirds of the total representatives of the parliament." However, according to Article 177 of the Constitution, the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic "after consulting with the Expediency Discernment Council, proposes amendments to the Constitution in a decree addressed to the President." Meanwhile, some officials of the Islamic Republic of Iran believe that the Supreme Leader must allow a referendum based on other principles of the Iranian Constitution. This constitutional principle has not been used so far, and since the adoption of the Islamic Republic's Constitution in 1979, a referendum has only been conducted once regarding the amendment of this law at the order of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, the founder of the Islamic Republic. The current Constitution of the Islamic Republic was put to a vote in 1989 after the death of Ayatollah Khomeini and the election of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei as the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic.