Concerns Over “Distrust” of Iranian People Towards the Government
The head of the Hope faction expressed concern about “declining public confidence in the government.” Another member of this faction also reported “serious damage” to public trust. According to a seminary lecturer, people have developed a “particular attitude” towards the “totality of the system.”
Conciding with the fortieth anniversary of the day known as “Islamic Republic Day,” several reformists have warned about and expressed concern over “public distrust” in the government. On the 12th of Farvardin 1358 (April 1, 1979), which is designated as “Islamic Republic Day” in the Iranian calendar, the results of the referendum on the Islamic Republic system were announced. According to the announced results, more than 98 percent of participants in this referendum, who faced the question “Islamic Republic, yes or no,” voted in favor of the new political system.
Mohammad Reza Aref, head of the Hope faction in the Islamic Consultative Assembly, expressed concern about “declining public confidence in the government” in an Instagram post on this occasion and called for “attention to the capacities of youth and reform of methods and decisions to improve the country’s situation.”
Aref wrote in his note: “I believe that after four decades of establishing the Islamic Republic system, looking toward the future, a serious pathology of this four-decade performance must be conducted.”
“Current conditions are not good conditions”
This well-known figure of the so-called reformist movement, while referring to the “achievements” and “shortcomings” of the Islamic Republic system, stated: “What concerns me these days is public confidence in the government. The performance of us officials over the past four decades has not been such that it would increase public trust in the system; rather, unfortunately, we are sometimes witnessing a decline in this trust.”
According to Aref: “The most important principle in strengthening public confidence in a political system is the sincerity of officials and their empathy with the people. Let us accept that the current conditions of the country are not good, and the way out of the current situation is belief in and faith in internal capacities and the use of the capacities of our dear youth and fundamental reform in some methods and decisions.”
Mohammad Reza Aref added: “Those who want to block the path of reform for factional interests should know that their action ultimately harms the body of the Islamic system. In a year named ‘production prosperity,’ instead of a purely slogan-based approach to this strategic slogan and holding various conferences, operational steps with serious determination and empathy and coordination of all system branches should be taken to realize this slogan, so that, God willing, we witness an improvement in the livelihoods of people who are the primary capital of Iran’s Islamic Republic.”
The head of the reformist faction in Iran’s parliament ultimately called for “setting aside the spirit of guardianship and narrow-mindedness” with the aim of providing “ever greater strengthening of the foundations of the Islamic Republic.”
Abolfazl Sarouš, another reformist representative in the Islamic Consultative Assembly, also emphasized in an interview with the “Rouydad24” website published on the 12th of Farvardin (April 1), that the “hope” and “confidence” that, according to him, the “Hope movement” had created in Iranian society had been severely damaged.
This member of the Hope faction, referring to the formation process of the tenth term of the Islamic Consultative Assembly named after the “people” and the “people’s hopes,” added: “However, the tenth parliament conveyed messages to society from its very first days of work that showed the determination of all those who entered Baharestan to form a ‘parliament of hope’ and ‘hope-creating’ was not universal, and those ‘hopeful’ figures loyal to what they had promised in the elections took at most one-third of the tenth parliament’s seats in their own names.”
“Serious damage” to public trust
Abolfazl Sarouš emphasized: “The record of the past three years of the tenth parliament, although defensible and successful in many respects, failed to meet the rightful expectations of the seventh Esfand 1394 voters in some cases, and this very matter caused the ‘hope’ and ‘confidence’ that the Hope movement had created in society to be seriously damaged.”
This representative, while referring to the impact of the “competitive electoral atmosphere” on representatives’ performance in the final year of the tenth parliament, considers what is “important and noteworthy” to be “the reconstruction of ‘public confidence’ in the movement and path that pursues reform of affairs within the country’s borders and in the hands of committed and compassionate national elites and managers.”
Sarouš, like Aref, while emphasizing that the “country is going through difficult days,” said: “On the one hand, people do not have good lives due to the economic and livelihood problems imposed on the country; on the other hand, the process of affairs and the activity of officials disappointed hopes for internal reform. In these special circumstances, efforts to rebuild ‘public confidence’ and restore ‘hope’ to society is the most important step the tenth parliament should consider measures for.”
The Tehran representative in parliament further states: “I believe that rebuilding ‘public confidence’ is the most important step and action that the tenth parliament should pay attention to in the final year of its activities, and by identifying the causes of its creation and how it manifests in society, find a remedy for it.”
“Special condition” of people towards the “totality of the system”
Mohsen Gharvian, a seminary lecturer in Qom and a supporter of the “moderation” of the eleventh and twelfth governments, while referring to the “despair created” in people by Rouhani and reformists, said that they have developed a “particular attitude” towards the “principle” and “totality of the system.”
This political activist said today, Monday, in an interview with “Rouydad24”: “The vast majority of the country’s problems are related to the economic sector, which has challenged the entire system, and people have developed a certain attitude towards the principle and totality of the system.”
Gharvian sees the source of economic problems in the “pressure levers” that “interfere in the country’s management and create much agitation; for example, there are hardliners in parliament who constantly criticize and disrupt the psychological and mental atmosphere of the people.”
Mohsen Gharvian, by presenting the claim that “the government is making its utmost efforts but cannot achieve results and make progress,” says: “Therefore, I believe there are obstacles and sabotage at work.”
This seminary lecturer, while referring to the government’s problems in foreign policy, also says: “We see that the Syrian president enters the country, but our foreign minister is not even informed! What meaning do these behaviors have? Trips are made by some individuals that need to be coordinated and supervised by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, but coordination does not take place. It is natural that these behaviors disrupt the country’s management.” Gharvian emphasizes: “I attribute these behaviors and problems to the interference of pressure centers.”
Mohsen Gharvian also considers the delay in the duty of bills related to the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) as one of “countless barriers” that have been placed in the way of Rouhani’s government.
This political activist, referring to recent statements by Gholam Reza Mesbahi Moghadam, a member of the Expediency Discernment Council, who said “I am amazed at how people allow themselves to have opinions on matters like FATF,” stated: “These are the same people who participate in marches, the 22nd of Bahman, and so on, and at that time their awareness was valued, but now they say we regret that people express opinions! These same people are the ones who elected you to make decisions, but these individuals cannot even make decisions. Then these same people disrespect the people’s votes and views. These statements show that if officials felt the people’s pain closely and stood in meat lines like them, they would not speak this way.”
Gharvian added: “Now the masses are no longer looking for slogan-mongers. They are looking for conscious people! And they choose people with consciousness. Whether from the principlist or reformist camp, people have realized that making slogans has no effect and want practical people with high understanding and comprehension who are aware of the people’s pain and feelings to come to power and be able to untie the knots of people’s problems.”
Mohsen Gharvian finally emphasized: “Rouhani should know that he has made promises to the people, some of which he has fulfilled, but some of them he has not! People should know that promises and slogans have been realized in practice. Otherwise, people’s presence on the scene will decrease.”
“Red alarm of disillusionment”
Various officials of the Islamic Republic and political figures close to Iran’s government have repeatedly expressed concern over and warned about public distrust in the government in recent weeks and months. Some have also raised evidence pointing to this distrust and “despair” of people in government officials.
Mehdi Chamran, a prominent principlist activist, said on the eighth of Farvardin (March 29) that if elections were held in Iran, “more than half the people” would not participate. Chamran attributed this to people’s dissatisfaction with the government. This principlist figure was speaking of “more than half the people’s” non-participation in hypothetical elections in today’s Iran while senior officials of the Islamic Republic have always cited people’s participation in elections as a sign of their “confidence” in the entire system of governance and the “continuity and power” and “acceptability of the system.”
Morteza Moblaghi, a member of the High Council for Reformist Policy-Making, also on the seventh of Farvardin called people’s “disillusionment and despair” “very harmful and dangerous,” saying: “Public confidence does not arise solely from words and talk and recommendations, especially when previous statements have been made that were not acted upon; as a result, public confidence erodes and its level drops. To restore public confidence, more than words and recommendations and advice, attention must be paid to ‘acting.'”
Mohammad Khatami, who is referred to as the leader of the reform movement, also emphasized about a month ago: “It is much harder now to tell people to come and vote. Do you think that in the next round of elections, people will come to the polls at my word and yours? I think it is unlikely unless a change occurs in the next year.”
Iran, especially in recent years, has witnessed widespread protests among various segments of society. Many critics attribute “internal problems” and the government’s inability to manage economic problems as the main reason for the current dire situation, widespread protests against it, and the spread of public distrust.
This public distrust, which especially after the December 2017 and July 2018 protests increased significantly, has “sounded the alarm” for government officials, and many of them have warned of the increasing spread of public dissatisfaction and the danger of “collapse” and “destruction” after these unrest. For example, Ali Rabeie, Iran’s former labor minister, at the end of December stated the number of cities involved in December 2017 protests as “160 cities” and said: “The nature of the 2017 unrest is rioting of a limited but dangerous regional type and is sounding an alarm that could become more widespread.”
Some analysts, such as Feyaz Zahed, believe that 70 percent of people supported the December 2017 protests but did not go to the streets. This reformist activist said in mid-Esfand (March 2018) that Iranian people have become disillusioned with reformists, and their trust in the government has also been lost. Hasam-aldin Ashna, an advisor to Iran’s president, also emphasized at the end of December that there is still the possibility of a recurrence of events similar to the December 2017 protests, because according to him, the “causes” of those events have not been eliminated.
Source: DW
