A Lesson to be learned!
The statement adopted at the 15th Plenum
of the Central Committee of the Hekmatist Party on the
events surrounding June 2009 presidential election in Iran
Once again large sections of the Iranian
people were mobilised around the presidential election
hoping for an improvement in their political and cultural
lives and a more tolerable economic condition. Once again
their hopes were dashed. Once again the people in Iran
wrested their hopes with one faction of the Iranian regime
and once again they were defeated. The economic hardship has
not lessened and the political and cultural environment has
not opened up. This time round masses of the Iranian people,
influenced by the pro-west opposition and the western
bourgeois propaganda came out onto the streets and rallied
around one of the regime’s factions (Moussavi, Rafsanjani
and Keroubi coalition). They had opted to carry out their
struggle through the factional conflicts within the regime
and hoping to triumph. Contrary to the events of July 1999,
where revolutionary people had come out against both
factions of the regime, this time they played the factional
card. They disregarded the July 1999 experience. They were
again defeated. We are told that this was a different
experience. And to be fair all the bourgeois currents and
political opportunists attempted to convince people that
this was indeed a new experience; another revolution was in
the making. But people had been through a similar battle and
subjected to similar lessons and experiences before. There
was no need to go through this experience once again. Then,
why did the struggle for freedom and the hope for economic
justice was dashed? How can we end this vicious cycle? How
can we overcome the spectre of the Islamic Republic once and
for all? These are questions that every concerned political
force must address. Resorting to the usual excuses and
pretexts such as the “regime was brutal and suppressed the
movement” is not an acceptable answer. Anyone conceiving
that the Islamic Republic would not resort to naked
aggression, brutal force and delusion is either politically
naive or a charlatan.
Beyond the Smokescreen
Understanding the nature and content of the
conflict between the ruling factions within the Iranian
regime would have been very easy if it was not for a blanket
of lies and duplicity spread by the bourgeois political
groups and the so called intellectual circles. Hiding behind
a smokescreen and under a barrage of lies and deceit they
attempted to package and offer the interests of he
bourgeoisie to the Iranian people as revolution, freedom and
social justice. A camp made up of Moussavi, Keroubi,
Rafsanjani, Obama, Gordon Brown, Nicholas Sarkozy, Dariush
Homayoun (Prominent pro-west monarchist ideologue), Ganji (a
former Islamic revolutionary guard), Hajarian (an ideologue
of the Islamic Republic) to CNN and BBC (BBC assumed the
role of a political party in the service of Rafsanjani and
Co.) to former leftist and various splinters of the Tudeh
Party and the pro-west bourgeois nationalists of the
Worker-communist Party of Iran (WPI) was formed and
converged on the Friday prayers and the marches to mark the
Jerusalem’s Day. The Friday prayer was to become the focal
point for all these forces. They invited people to go to the
ballot boxes and later called them to come out onto the
streets. They hailed the sacrifices of these people as the
endorsement for their claims and policies. On the other hand
the political charlatans and the so called friends of the
destitute associated with Ahmadinejad’s camp managed to
mobilise masses of workers and the downtrodden in the urban
centres and rural regions in support of Ahmadinejad and
lured them to ballot boxes. And in the aftermath of the
election results by highlighting the class position and the
corrupt nature of the leadership of the "Green Movement"
kept the working classes and deprived masses indifferent
towards the events. Caught up in this mayhem the working
class was denied the opportunity to exploit the division
within the ranks of the ruling clique to their own advantage
and raise their own profile and unity. Amidst all these and
a consorted propaganda by the world bourgeois media the
voice of the working class and the voice of truth were
drowned. The communism of the working class was overwhelmed
under the weight of lies and deception. Only a small number
of communists, including the Hekmatist Party, managed to
speak out and tell the truth. Today when the reality is
beginning to surface from under the veil of bourgeois
propaganda; when the scam of the green movement has become
apparent it must be clear that the struggle for cultural
liberation and economic justice and emancipation from the
political Islam can not be delivered through a race to bring
the largest crowd to the Friday prayers and religious
ceremonies. Now that the scope of the green revolution and
the depth of the deceit of the pro-destitute lumpens and the
Islamic fascist currents are clearer all those who
participated in these movements need to ask themselves why
they ended up in the ranks of Friday prayers, Jerusalem Day
rally and other religious ceremonies?
The Lessons
Failure of the communists to analyse this
experience and derive appropriate lessons will generate a
deep sense of betrayal and resentment amongst the masses
once the smokescreen is lifted the truth prevails. Therefore
we need to highlight and reiterate some of the lessons of
the recent events.
1- What was the conflict about?
We need to be clear as to what was the
conflict about? In a real world it is essential to establish
what real and earthly interests lie behind the
confrontations and conflicts and do not rely on what the
participants or the players in a particular movement claim.
This movement would have succeeded if Rafsanjani had become
supreme leader or Moussavi would have been appointed the
president. Such a victory would have had nothing to do with
freedom or cultural liberation. Moussavi and Rafsanjani’s
dossier speak for themselves. Those who claimed that
Moussavi and Rafsanjani have changed are telling lies.
Furthermore, the conflict is not about economic justice and
fight against corruption. Ahmadinejad and Khamenie are the
main architects and proponent of capitalist development,
privatisation and the closure of unprofitable industries.
Their agenda is to maximise profit through more
rationalisation of the workforce. They claim to be against
embezzlement and corruption as if exploiting workers and
profiteering is anything but stealing in broad daylight. The
truth is that this confrontation was definitely not about
toppling the Islamic Republic. On the contrary it was about
how to save it.
2- The world is divided into classes
The Iranian society and its politics is
class ridden. Everything needs to be viewed in the context
of class conflicts. The entire green movement and its
political forces tried to promote their policies based on
the notion that the Iranian society was divided into two
camps: the “people” and the “regime”. Apparently the camp of
people was made up of a spectrum of people from desperate
workers fed up with wage labour, frustrated women and the
youths to Rafsanjani, Moussavi and Rahnavard (Moussavi’s
wife). And apparently this camp shared the same goals;
interests; politics and tactics that ended up in Friday
prayers and commemoration of Jerusalem’s Day. Such a
classification, “people” versus “regime” does not reflect
the reality of the Iranian society. It is an attempt to
promote the interests of the upper classes as that of the
entire society and sell it to the working class and the
revolutionary people. Iran is a capitalist society and its
function is governed by the interaction between labour and
capital. The conflicts within the upper classes are always
about the distribution of the share of the profits from the
labour of the working class. This conflict inevitably takes
on a political dimension and politics in a capitalist
society, in the final analysis, is about the distribution of
profits. The guiding principle of all the bourgeois
movements is that the exploitation of labour and profiting
from the working class not only is permissible but it is the
only way of its survival. There is no disagreement amongst
them on this. The underlying concern of bourgeoisie, even if
they are in an all out war, is to maintain the fundamental
premise that the worker is paid a wage to engage in work and
the capitalist invests, pays wages and makes profits.
This premise also applies to the Islamic
Republic. This ongoing conflict in Iran is neither about
Islam nor about justice or freedom. It is rather about which
faction of the ruling bourgeoisie in Iran manages to extract
largest share of the exploitation of the labour of the
working class vis-à-vis the current prospect of the
expansion of the capitalism in Iran. The fight is about who
will gain control over the oil, automobile, steel and
communications industries in Iran? The group gathered around
the Revolutionary Guards or Rafsanjani and co? To fight its
war, bourgeoisie needs to gather and mobilise forces from
the working and the general population. To do so it needs to
present these conflicts as the “people’s issues”. This
strategy is pursued by the political forces representing the
ruling classes.
3. Capitalism can not be democratic
It is claimed that apart from the working
class and revolutionary people sections of the bourgeoisie
and even the government of the Islamic Republic are
democrats and ascribe to freedom. They claim the despotism
of the Iranian regime is an attribute of its Islamic nature
and its backwardness. This is also another one of those
smokescreens. In Iran despotism is an integral part of any
capitalist states. In Iran we can not have democratic
capitalists. There can not be one. In the global capitalist
market, in societies such as Iran, the only way to attract
investment is to offer a higher rate of profit. Such a
higher rate of return can only be achieved through an army
of cheap and subservient labour. Sustaining this army of
cheap and obedient labour can only be done through a
despotic rule. The political despotism in Iran is rooted in
this reality rather than the Islamic outlook of the
government. Islam adds a backwardness and cultural
oppression to the political despotism. Other regimes might
be able to alleviate aspects of the cultural oppression but
are not capable of implementing political freedom. Any
degree of freedom will offer workers the opportunity to get
organised and protest; threaten profitability of capital and
plunge capitalism in Iran into a crisis. All sections of
bourgeoisie from those with only two workers to those with
workforce of tens of thousands are equally beneficial in
keeping the cost of labour low.
4- What kind of Overthrow
Sections of the bourgeoisie in Iran, and the
world, could at some point call for the overthrow of the
Islamic Republic. But at the same time they are fully
mindful not to allow the workers and the revolutionary
people seize the initiative and organise themselves outside
their sphere of influence and threaten the status quo. Chaos
and uncertainty bring about crisis and is unacceptable to
bourgeoisie. Bourgeoisie is adamant to contain political
struggles in the country within the political elite at the
top. And the best way of achieving this is to channel the
process of change through factional conflicts or engineer
velvet revolutions. Such a process of political change would
not reflect the interests of the working class and
revolutionary masses. As it has happened in the past, regime
change initiated by bourgeoisie could lead to the
consolidation of its power and its sovereignty. The
interests of the working class and the revolutionary masses
lie in the revolutionary overthrow of the Islamic Republic.
Such an overthrow, not only in form but also in content,
will bring about profound and revolutionary changes. The
working class needs to draw up a revolutionary manifesto for
the overthrow of the Islamic Republic and mobilise the
largest possible forces around it. This is the only way of
pushing aside the Islamic Republic and realise its demands
and create favourable conditions to expand and advance its
struggles further.
5- For bourgeoisie everything could be
compromised except profit: Who are the friends of the
people?
Once again we found out that bourgeoisie and
their movements and political parties, are well capable of
comprising on their so called principles, in pursuit of
their long term interests. The pro-west bourgeois opposition
who had previously advocated nothing less than outright
overthrow of the Islamic Republic- with the help USA and the
West of course- together with the USA have suffered a great
deal of frustration at the hands of the Islamic Republic.
With the collapse of the US policy in the region and with it
the hope of US sponsored toppling of the Islamic Republic,
the pro-west opposition abandoned their plan to advance the
aspiration of greater Iranian nationalism in the region.
This aspiration was confiscated and adopted by Ahmadinejad
and the Islamic Republic. It was revealed, at least for the
time being, that the Islamic Republic is a more competent
custodian of the interests of the Iranian bourgeoisie than
its pro-west counterpart. The pro-west movement’s aspiration
to overthrow the regime subsided, and together with their
western bakers, lost every hope of overthrowing the Islamic
Republic. They contended themselves to continue with their
struggle within the confines of the regime’s own factional
conflicts. All those who were supposedly bent on
overthrowing the Islamic Republic, from the US government to
Reza Pahlavi- the monarch in waiting - the liberals and
Worker-communist Party of Iran, all withdrew their policy of
overthrowing the Islamic Republic settled for replacing
Ahmadinejad instead. The BBC (BBC as an extension of the
green movement), the monarchists, the opportunists of Tudeh
Party and the Worker-communist Party as well as Obama,
Sarkozy and Merkel slipped under the green wing of the
Islamic Republic.
The Islamic nationalists lured the
pro-western nationalists into their own ranks and turned
them into Greens and the pro-western nationalists
surrendered the banner of the Iranian nationalism to the
Islamists. The pro-west bourgeoisie reconciled with the
Islamic Republic regime The pro-west bourgeois opposition
dropped any pretence to women’s rights; workers rights; the
rights of the youths and the demand for freedom. They
paraded and hailed Zahra Rahnavard (Moussavi’s wife) as the
role model for Iranian women and encouraged women to wipe
out their make up and take part in the Friday prayers led by
Rafsanjani. The nationalists organised in the “Ex-Muslim”
called on people to join the Friday prayers and re-embraced
green Islam and became “New Muslims”
The consequence of this political
transformation was to promote the Green movement and its
Friday prayers as prelude to political freedom and the
Socialist revolution. In the absence of a credible and
strong workers and communist movements Ahmadinejad backed by
the largest capitalist block in the country were marketed to
large sections of the working and toiling people as the
defenders of economic justice and probity. They all lied.
They all misled people to keep the bourgeoisie, whether in
the shape of Ahmadinejad or Moussavi, in power. They lied to
absolve the architects and perpetrators of mass onslaught of
communists and revolutionaries of their crimes and promote
them as the proponents of political freedom and liberation.
They lied to elevate ring leaders of thugs and criminals who
poured acid onto women’s faces, suspected of flaunting their
hijabs, to the rank of champions of women liberation. They
lied and tried to promote the representative of the largest
capitalist block in Iran as the savoir of the toiling
masses.
The way in which the bourgeois politicians
presented the phase one of the presidential election and the
events following it was remarkable. They shamelessly set a
phoney agenda and convinced lots of people that the
elections and its aftermath were about well-being and
happiness of the deprived masses. And even more remarkable
was the shift in political position and realignment of
political groups and the new alliances. The political map of
Iran was redrawn and the working class and the toiling
masses must, in the aftermath of this political earthquake,
reassess their friends and foes.
6- Struggle for freedom is inseparable from
struggle for equality
During the recent events one of the oldest
tricks of bourgeoisie was played out. The green movement
while refraining from even making reference to “economic
justice” and basic demands for improvement in living and
working condition of working people; unemployment benefit,
reduction in working hours, the right to organisation and
strike and setting minimum wage, had the audacity to dismiss
its rival of advocating economics of hand outs. And when it
comes to the plight of political prisoners they limited
their demands to the release of the activists of the green
movement and not mentioning the imprisoned labour activists
and the communists. Political freedom did not even feature
as a demand by the green movement. The thrust of the green’s
defiance was against the way that Ahmadinejad had humiliated
Iran before the people of the west and a snobbish dislike of
Ahmadinejad for being uncultured and his ape-like look. The
green movement, for the first time in the history of Iran,
redefined politics and introduced the struggle against the
Islamic Republic as the struggle of residents of “uptowns”.
On the other hand Ahmadinejad and the black
Islam claimed to be championing the improvement in the
living condition of the workers. In fact they pledged to
help the poor and the toiling masses while they were busy
restructuring capitalism in Iran at the cost of further
destruction and devastation of the working class. The
working and the revolutionary masses learnt that the
struggle for freedom is inseparable from the struggle for
cultural liberation and political freedom; and the political
freedom is inseparable from struggle for equality and
emancipation from capitalist exploitation. Anyone longing
for freedom must find his / her place in the ranks of the
endeavour for equality. And anyone seeking equality and
emancipation from capitalism must be at the forefront of the
struggle for political and cultural freedom.
7- The Islamic Republic’s capabilities
These events once again showed us that the
Islamic Republic, both in terms of its gross root support
and its ability to defend itself, is unlike its predecessor.
The Islamic Republic will not disintegrate. The Islamic
Republic is armed with a fascistic ideology and furthermore
has an armed ideological force ready to fight for it. The
regime and its armed forces have the capacity to plunge Iran
into another Lebanon or Iraq. This threat and the potential
to destroy the country has been exploited by the Islamic
Republic, and the bourgeois forces alike, to dissuade the
people from resorting to revolutionary toppling of the
regime and also the reason why successive attempts by
bourgeois opposition forces to remove the Islamic Republic
has failed. The Islamic Republic has constantly “surprised”
its opposition and defeated them. And those who had placed
their hopes with these opposition forces were left reeling
in disappointment. A futile cycle of disappointment and
disillusionment brought about by the bourgeois forces has
been one of the main reasons why the Islamic Republic has
lasted so long. The Islamic Republic will not disintegrate
and melt away. It must be destroyed. For the overthrow of
the Islamic Republic to be a positive experience for
humanity it needs to be done through a clear plan with clear
objectives and led by a competent leadership.
The hope and prospect of a bourgeois led
toppling and changing the Islamic Republic must be pushed
aside. A worker and communist policy is needed. The only
force capable of preventing the country falling into chaos
and complete disintegration at the hands of the armed gangs
within the Islamic Republic, or other armed groups, is the
power of the armed and organised working class and the
revolutionary people. In the absence of such a force the
Islamic Republic will either remain in power or Iran will
face a fate more horrendous than that of Iraq. It is only
the working class and its revolutionary action that can
mobilise sufficient force, energy and offer the prospect of
removing the Islamic Republic. In the absence of such an
option, attempt to remove the Islamic Republic, will have to
find accommodation with one of the Islamic Republic’s
factions or settle for the transformation of the Islamic
Republic.
8- Organisation and force are needed to
overcome the Islamic Republic
A misconception is being advocated by the
bourgeois currents that the Islamic Republic can be
overthrown without a clear programme; without organisation
and without leadership. These flawed ideas are being floated
around to stop the working class and revolutionary masses
from organising themselves. Such a view promotes the idea
that what is needed is a Liberator, a Prophet or an Imam to
come along and through a satellite TV programme invite
masses to pour into the streets and overthrow the Islamic
Republic. This is pure stupidity or charlatanism. This is a
tactic for those who intend to bring people into the street
to drive a bargain with the Islamic Republic. This is the
tactics of those currents that are trying through velvet,
green and rainbow revolutions, force the Islamic Republic
into a comprise without allowing the working class and the
revolutionary people to organise and unite. For these
currents the content and outcome of the overthrow of the
Islamic Republic is not important. In this approach every
political manoeuvring and every realignment is another step
towards overthrowing the Islamic Republic.
More importantly and as far the Islamic
Republic is concerned, such attempts, by definition, are
doomed to fail. For the past ten years the pro-west
opposition forces have called on people, via their satellite
TV programmes, to come out onto the streets and remove the
Islamic Republic. This approach has also proved to be
ineffective and sterile during the recent events. Pouring
into street is not enough in itself. Rioting without a plan
is not the answer. It needs to have organisation. It needs
policy. Unity is needed. The struggle to overthrow the
regime must be led as a real war. A cavalier assault on the
Islamic Republic, although heroic, in the twenty first
century and against an enemy like the Islamic Republic is
bound to fail. And the heroism and sacrifices of all those
who fight are expropriated and used in trade offs between
different faction of the bourgeoisie.
Victory requires force. A clear concept and
understanding of revolutionary overthrow and its distinction
from other types of overthrows is needed. To succeed we need
to mobilise the most powerful force in the country i.e. the
working class. The very moment that the workers in
Utilities, Oil and Gas industries stop work the engine and
the apparatus of the Islamic Guards and the Besijis corps
will grind to a halt and will push the regime to the verge
of collapse. Those who disguise these facts are incapable of
overthrowing the Islamic Republic.
9- Unorganised working class and communism
is by definition a passive force.
The recent mass urban demonstrations in
cities across Iran and the silence of the working class both
reinforced the fact that a weak and unorganised communist
movement and the working class can not be an effective agent
for change. Those individual communists, who out of
desperation, joined the “people’s movement” failed to leave
a trace behind and served as a pawn in the army of the green
movement. Practice is about making real changes and not mere
physical activities. And in this context activity is a
social phenomena and not an individual act of heroism. An
isolated communist, a communist without an organisation, a
communist incapable of appearing as a force for social
change despite all his/hers bravery and heroism is still
ineffective and passive. One can not devise tactics for an
individual communist. Communism by definition is about
practice on a social scale and not individual activities.
During these events the communists did not have the
necessary organisation, and where they were organised, did
not have the necessary power to rise up to the challenges
before them. They lacked the capacity to counter the
enormous power of the bourgeoisie’s propaganda and the
western media, the likes of CNN and BBC. The left
nationalists were not exposed enough and the communists were
not organised enough. This situation applies to the working
class as well. Disorganised workers, even if they take part
in social upheavals, will unintentionally become foot
soldiers of the on going movement. The workers power lie in
their position within the production and not in their muscle
power or sheer numbers. Those who envisage making a
revolution without an organised and united working class,
most probably their revolution doe not need this unity. At
best it could be a velvet or green revolution. An
anti-freedom and anti-workers revolution.
10- Join the Hekmatist Party
Communism, during this period, was
represented by the Hekmatist Party. The Hekmatist Party has
been advocating the afore mentioned facts and lessons. We
have struggled tirelessly to adopt and practise these
policies. Our entire history is intertwined with our
determination to avoid repetition of past mistakes and try
to strengthen the ranks of the working class and for the
revolutionary overthrow of the Islamic Republic. Those who
share our views and the above lessons should be asking
themselves why are not in the Hekmatist Party? If the
Hekmatist Party was stronger than it is now, we would not
have to go through this experience again. It is not too
late. Perhaps the most significant lesson to be drawn is
that for good or bad this Party is a beacon of hope.
15th Plenum of the Central Committee of the
Worker-communist Party of Iran-Hekmatist.
December 2009.
