The tradition of constitutionalism – a movement for freedom, progress and nationalism, started off in the latter years of the nineteenth century and gained victory one hundred years ago. A political/cultural revolution that scraped off the Iranian society from the grounds of the middle ages, without settling it too firmly on modern grounds. Through the victories and unsuccessful tasks of this tradition there are still many speculations about the present and the future of Iran. The last one hundred years in Iran has been a period for building up the structure of constitutional ideals and overcoming them, and now, enlightened by the experiences of the last century, and in very similar conditions as the time of the Constitutional Revolution, once again our people find themselves in the midst of a battle, which this time will reveal the historical problem of why Iran is stuck in the past. Once again pressures for change and progress and a demand for proceeding towards the modern world, is put upon a regime from within the society; a regime so reversed to the depth of religion, in its most original form, one of the worst types of its kind such as the Safavi’s, and sooner or later victory will be achieved.
Today, in the dawn of a new century we find ourselves in the very same situation as a hundred years ago when Iran was stepping into a new era, having to deal with the same original matters such as defending totalitarianism and national unity, civil rights, human rights issues (liberal democracy), absence of a centralized government and general developing progresses for the society. The difference is that at that time, apart from having to put down the necessary economical and social foundations for establishing what was desired, all domestic contrasting issues that existed during those one hundred years that lead to the loss of all that had been achieved have by now been already overcome with or overcoming them is now a much easier procedure.
The contrasts between freedom and progress, between a society that values liberal democracy and one that precipitately frees itself from an old world is no longer the same as how it was during the previous one hundred years. Strengthening the pillars of recognising the society’s values for civil rights in Iran, social and economical foundations of the last one hundred years, systematic changes of values to the benefit of liberal democracy and confronting a regime that is against both freedom and progress, does not leave any conflicts in opinions about this matter; it is and must be possible to have freedom and progress at the same time. The conflict between preserved nationalism and the essentiality of strategic relations with a supper power against the world controlling behaviour of another has been sorted out by the break of the USSR. There are no other bordering supper powers to Iran. In addition, inability of concentration has been overcome, as the ongoing threats of deviation and separation in Iran by the hands of stronger foreign forces have been demolished. There are still some stimulations from neighbouring regions but they are not substantial next to Iran. We are no longer afraid of having local governments in Iran and enabling the people of each province to manage their own domestic issues and respect the rights of individual civilians as per the manifesto of the international Human Rights.
Social justice no longer separates the two ends of political spectres as severely as it did before. The infatuated market economy, regardless of social responsibilities, and insufficient economical leadership, regardless of the public is now clear in Iran’s main diplomacy and so the left and the right are leaning towards the mid-wing. Finally, the conflicts between cultural tradition and the culture of modernization, which arose from the victory of the mullahs and to some extend, intellectuals, has been defeated by the modern culture. Unreliability of the mullahs and the ever-growing freedom of intellectuals from supremacy of Islamic thinking will be to the benefit of the modern culture. It is no longer possible to obstruct what we must have with ‘what we have’.
A hundred years ago the best Iranians worked hard for freedom and progress, and even more urgently independence and laying down foundations for a strong centralized government. Today, their more urgent desires have been fulfilled. Iran has had a strong centralized government for a long time and no one can be a threat to her independence. We must now concentrate on the other two main desires of the Constitutionalists, freedom and progress.
We at The Constitutionalist Party of Iran are endeavouring to proceed and to keep alive the aims and achievements of a revolution that was really a movement towards social enlightenment and modernization of Iran, one which would be unfair to be downgraded to a form of a government. Such desires of democracy and human rights and updating Iran’s culture and diplomacies, and bringing the Iranian society up to the level of the most advanced countries in the world, are still fresh and strong tasks, after a hundred years. The people of Iran are involved in such matters more than ever before. It is not at all easy for us but we have more to go on by. Our people, although struggling in the grasps of the mullahs and their world-views like the time of the middle-ages, are a generating source of energy; and we live in a world, which is increasingly witnessing victories of democracy and human rights. Despotic and undeveloped regimes are taking on defensive forms; and although violent and threatening, Islamic fanaticism and terrorism are loosing the battles.
Happy one hundredth anniversary of the Constitutional revolution and many congratulations to all freedom and progress seekers of Iran, and even to those who do not cherish it. Constitutionalism is an inheritance for all of us and we should respect and honour its greatness, despite our differences on the type of the regime or its political tasks.
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