Peyvast

According to Etemaad Melli newspaper , Mir Hossein Mousavi has announced that he is forming a political party! (http://www.etemademelli.ir/published/0/00/49/4969/ ). Mousavi is also the man who created Islamic Republic Party after the revolution, the same party that then helped remove the more liberal president Bani-Sadr from the power. There were many political parties before, that the regime did not tolerate and got rid of and we already have seen what came out of the last political party that Mousavi formed , it became the mouthpiece of the regime..

When a regime is standing with guns in front of the masses, does Mousavi want people to fight bullets with (Hezb) political parties ? and to participate in what?! In a political atmosphere that does not exist?! and didn’t Karoubi form a party and worked on it for 4 years? What did he achieve? What is the different with Mousavi this time? and why not just join Karoubi in the same party as if the thoughts are that that different??! Now everyone wants to become their own party?!

It is WAY TOO late to form a political party within a regime that does not even recognize them! When a regime does not respect its own so called elections, it makes absolutely no sense to participate in more political games and elections just to see that at the end the votes don’t count! Haven’t Mr. Mousavi and the people been there done that already?!!

The fact is that what happened pre and post election went way above Mr. Mousavi’s head. He is and was part of a system that people today oppose. People USED his candidacy to oppose Ahmadinejad and the regime and they were successful at doing that.  All along it was obvious that one of two scenarios would happen: Religious moderates would win and take power or the regime cheats in the election and either way people who voted against the handpicked candidate of the supreme leader would have come out as the ultimate winners who took over their destiny by uniting and using regime’s own ballots to express their disapproval of it. (http://www.iranian.com/main/2009/apr/get-out-and-vote-time)

Mission Accomplished and its is now time to move on….

Last week I wrote , of the two religious moderate candidates, after the election Karoubi has shown more leadership and courage and the torch should be passed to him (http://peyvast.blog.com/5187011/) , but if he does not take the historical role that he can play (and is passing by him rapidly too) it is time that the movement continue without them.  I also wrote that Mousavi post election has been ineffective  (http://www.dailykos.com/story/2009/6/23/745864/-Iran-at-a-crossroad),  He was better presidential candidate of the three alternative choices with most momentum to gather people around him but not the better leader post coup d’état. He served his purpose and then fell way behind and he is still trying to work within a system that has crushed the little bit of the republic that it had within it .

The attempts to wait for vote counts and now to form political parties are exactly what regime needs and wants just to cool down people’s momentum and keep them busy with useless strategies. 

What Iranians needed was a Gandhi, Luther king type who would stand in front (all of them from Mousavi to Khatami to Karoubi to….ALL of them in the front marching from one side of city to another , from Enghelab (revolution) Square to Azadi (freedom) Square as people did. Either all would have been arrested or attacked (highly unlikely) or people and them would have been successful and no blood would have been shed.

They didn’t even once attempt that ! At least Karoubi came out and marched few steps with people during the day and night. They didn’t even jointly attempt at a national strike . 

I supported Mousavi as the alternative in the elections and as a “catalyst” to voice people’s opposition to Ahmadinejad and Khamenei but now post election is a whole different story and as long as there were any rays of hope for his more moderate presidency, he was supported as one . Yet , I do not oppose all his efforts and in any efforts that are directed at the regime leaders should be supported . For example he just posted a very long list of frauds in the election (http://ghalamnews.ir/news-21213.aspx , http://ghalamnews.ir/news-21217.aspx, http://ghalamnews.ir/news-21218.aspx ) which helps legitimize Ahmadinejad and the regime even more but Mousavi no longer is the center of the movement. 

By forming a political party within the regime of coup d’état he is in fact giving the regime and its system exactly what it badly needs today : time and legitimacy to continue to rule . Mousavi should still  be supported as an opposition to Khamenei/ Ahmadinejad just as opposing efforts of other religious opposition such as Akbar Ganji, Mehdi Karoubi and Ayatollah Montazeri etc should be supported, but not as the leader that he has not been.

“It is not always the man who makes the history but often it’s the history that makes the man” and Iranians made Mousavi that man during the elections and gave him many chances afterwards but he has not been capable of staying in front of the coalition and in fact dragging way behind it.

I must add that Iranians lack organizations and in fact desperately need it and any attempt to organize should be welcomed but not as political alternative within the system but outside it and opposing it and that is the key difference here. Otherwise as heroic and respectful as it is , burning trash cans and throwing rocks at a regime that is armed to its teeth and willing to use it will not be effective enough.

Today more than ever more Iranians simply want a republic in Iran…. It is time for the seculars to organize on their own while supporting other anti-regime efforts. I am not even proposing leaving Mousavi and alike alone and believe that seculars should remain supportive of all struggles against totalitarianism but do suggest to move forward with “The People” who have already moved on.

Today the leader of the movements are the people themselves and in a way that is wonderful and not bad at all. Anyone who wants to join can and is welcome but they should not be allowed to use, compromise or hijack it by playing politics or forming political parties within the regime of Coup d’état !! That is a cruel joke that can make one laugh and cry at the same time.

Mousavi is falling more and more behind a movement that has surpassed him by kilometers now. It’s time to continue moving on….