Draft Declaration (Manifesto) of the Free Iran Renaissance
Draft Declaration (Manifesto) of the Free Iran Renaissance
Now, with the arrival of the Renaissance of Free Iran, it is necessary to put aside all the old and rotten thoughts of the past and to remediate a free Iran. Here is an introduction to the draft declaration (Manifesto) of the Free Iran Renaissance to be further examined and pondered after the designation of a “Council of Elected Members and Trustees of the Nation” and the holding of a nationwide referendum:
Principle-1: Rejection of any form of political slavery, governance, and domination over others
The sovereignty of human being over human being is condemned, and by no means can one human be superior to others. Therefore, the nation must govern their own destiny. In this regard, all officeholders of different affairs of the country are to be the servants of the nation. These agents have no superiority or sovereignty over any other people and are merely the servants of the nation, who are to be chosen from the experts and qualified ones to serve as employees, or, if necessary, to be dismissed. Such servants should not hold any control over lives, property, or honor of people. The administration of the affairs of the country in every field and branch requires its special expertise, and the nation must choose the most qualified ones to employ them as servants. In this regard, any titles like “Minister” that imply the authority of the servants over the nation are to be avoided.
Principle-2: Separation of any ideology from politics and administration of the country
No ideology should be involved in the politics and administration of the country (whether materialist or religious). Ideology is matter of individual choice and is not apt for generalization. As a result, it cannot cover an entire diversified nation. Throughout history, the imposition of an ideology on politics and governance has always led to the emergence of dictatorship, the enforcement of brutality on the nation, and the justification of many acts of crime and cruelty.
Principle-3: Independence of decision-making for every generation
Every generation must direct their own destiny, and no generation has the right to decide on behalf of the next generations. Therefore, the validity of any decision made about the administration of the country and the board of administrators is limited to four years. This period is extendable to a maximum of eight years by the public vote under the supervision of the council of elected members and trustees of the nation. Subsequently, reassessment will be required to apply necessary changes. The Council of Elected Members and Trustees, as protectors of the interests of the nation, will invariably supervise the integrity of the elections of various councils for the country’s administration.
Principle-4: Primacy of Human Rights
All decisions and every legislation are to be based on respect for human rights, including:
- All human beings, including all Iranians, have equal rights regardless of gender, religion, creed, opinions, and beliefs.
- All laws are intended to ensure human rights for the whole diversity of Iranian people, including freedom of thought, freedom of expression, freedom to choose religion, freedom of observance, and freedom to hold opinions.
- Every Iranian has one vote and one share of the national income (with a coefficient of variation depending on the individual’s area of residence and the extent of regional deprivation).
- Public insurance is an inalienable right by birth for the diversity of all Iranian people, including health insurance, occupational and disability insurance, education insurance, accident insurance, etc.
- Since the whole diversity of people will be covered by national insurance by birth (whether or not their parents are identifiable), children up to the age of 18 are to be educated for technical, professional, art, sport or other skills and are not allowed to work. Therefore, the matter of child labor will be nullified on its own. For the same reason, the unbecoming occupation of child beggary and adult beggary is also to be ended.
- Those who refuse to work under different reasons, such as addiction, and are inclined to be vagrants, are to be taken care of in special camps. As a result, vagrancy will not be a subject anymore.
- …
Principle-5: The nation’s right of comprehensive financial supervision over the country’s servants and executives
All the nation’s servants (directors of the country’s administration) will be subject to the law of explaining “how you have earned your money”, and every year their financial accounts and their dependents’ accounts are to be fully investigated by the relevant financial supervisory council.
Principle-6: Avoid spending national wealth for luxurious and ceremonial affairs of the delegation of the country’s administrators
In this regard, the nation should not incur heavy costs of the wasteful ceremonial affairs of the country’s administrators. It is evident that for the administration of the country’s affairs to be governed in accordance with principles and engineered arrangements, there is no need for many formalities and extravagancies, and spending national wealth for such purpose is obviously a waste of the material and spiritual assets of the nation. Additionally, the reception of foreign guests can be carried out within a more modest framework that has the lowest cost to the nation. This will also be an opportunity for those guests to learn that the surplus costs of such formalities can be spent on poverty alleviation of the nation. May they adopt the same practice for their nations.
It is to point out that majority of the costs of formalities and extravagancies of the country’s governing delegations are spent on glorifying themselves and satisfying their egoism. Whereas the majority of different segments of society are always kept in poverty and destitution. In general, spending national assets to carry out redundant affairs of luxuries and formalities is an evident betrayal of the nation.
Principle-7: The administration of the country as a public joint-stock corporation
The administration of a country could be envisaged as a public joint-stock corporation in which each Iranian has a share (in accordance with regional privileges) and a right to vote. In this regard, members of an elected board of directors will deal with the administration of the affairs of the country, and after their term of service has expired, they shall give their place to others. The board members are to be appointed based on required expertise in the field.
Principle-8: Elimination of hollow promises by individuals and groups to take up positions in the country’s administration
For the administration of the country’s affairs to be conducted within the framework of councils and as teamwork, it is necessary that experts in various fields be selected for different councils and employed by the nation. Therefore, it is not the candidates’ slogans but their expertise in the field that shall determine their election for cooperation and teamwork in the councils. In this point of view, any slogans that make hollow promises to the nation are a form of demagogy. Because the country does not belong to anyone so that they can make promises about its affairs and the welfare needs of the people based on their benevolence or individual decisions. Basically, in the Renaissance Revolution, “I” is devoid of meaning, and all the affairs of the country run collectively and in teamwork. In this administration, it is the “we” that embodies the power of the nation, and deals with the country’s various affairs in multiple councils such as the Republic Council, the Council of Elected Members and Trustees, the Industrial Council, the Health Council, the Province Council, the City Council, the Village Council, etc. In this regard, no individual or group under any title or position can play the strongman for the people. In other words, with this progressive revolution, the end of tyranny is announced, which is the end of the political slavery era.
Principle-9: No individual can hold more than one position in the country’s administrative board of directors (councils)
It is obvious that only experts must take over administrative positions, and it is necessary to avoid any power-seeking acts by individuals out of usurping those positions.
Principle-10: Nationalization of mineral resources, oil, gas, and related industries such as oil, gas, and petrochemical industry, as well as all mines including copper, gold, uranium, etc. and [natural resources including] forests, rivers, etc.
National assets belong to the whole people of Iran, as they all have a share in their country’s wealth. This matter should be managed by the board of directors in the public joint-stock corporation, in which all Iranians have a stake, in a way that allows all citizens to benefit from the national income and to protect it against the thieves of national wealth.
Principle-11: Prohibition of lobbying coalition in the administration of the country’s affairs to prevent power centralization, rent seeking, etc.
Any candidate to serve the nation as an administrator has the right only to nominate oneself for the given position and will be warned against any team intervention in the administration of the country’s affairs as it would centralize power.
The bitter experience of history has proven that whenever the administration of the country’s affairs has been in the hands of a particular group, they have driven the country into dictatorship by wielding power. There has never been an exception to this rule.
Principle-12: The Provincial Administration; decentralization of political activities in the capital and independence of each province in the administration of its own affairs
It is considerable that over the centuries in Iran, all attentions and political concentration have mainly been centered in the capital, which as a result has swallowed the majority of the country’s budget, and other provinces, especially border provinces, have always been marginalized and deprived of growth and progress, and this alone in the last century has caused huge class divisions and migration to major cities and … Therefore, it is necessary to run the country provincially. In the provincial [federal] administration, each province will have its own budget to be spent on constructions and facilities, industrial development, employment opportunities, etc. This is to prevent the migration to the capital and also other side effects of this centuries-long discrimination, and to enhance the possibility of establishing social justice.
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Note-1: The Free Iran refers to an Iran not under the rule of any individual or group, in which only the will of the nation is determinative. In this regard, by selecting servants who are qualified and proficient in different fields, the nation takes action to manage the affairs of the country within the framework of multiple councils.
Note-2: All referendums are held under the supervision of “the Council of Elected Members and Trustees of the Nation”. The Council is to protect the interests of the nation against the administrators of the country’s affairs, and in the event of facing violations of the Constitution and its regulations, it can cut off the budget of the nation’s servants from the National Treasury to fix the problems or issue an annulment vote of the relevant council.
Note-3: Parties and groups, unions and diverse social classes can also nominate their candidates for “the Council of Elected Members and Trustees of the Nation”, to be elected in urban and provincial polls and employed by the Council to supervise the country’s affairs for a single term ending with the next election.
Note-4: The elected members and trustees of the nation are those who have distinguished records of serving the nation, opposing oppression, and eliminating the cruelty imposed on the nation. They shall protect the interests of the nation in a way that helps the transition through current situation go efficiently and nationwide elections be conducted.
Note-5: The Council of Elected Members and Trustees of the Nation (like Congress) protects the interests of the nation against those involved in the administration of the affairs of the country.
Note-6: The principles of the Free Iran Renaissance Manifesto embody items that are about revolutionizing all political, cultural, and social relations. Evident principles such as neighborliness, or economic prosperity of Iran are expected to be addressed in the Constitution, as a matter of form, and merely serve as slogans. Therefore, such principles are not to be addressed in the Manifesto.
Note-7: It is necessary that the path of the nation’s revolution be like a ladder upwards. The course of its developments shall designate an evolution worthy of the nation by proving that the current mindset of society can offer progressive ideas for the political advancement of people and in such circumstances guarantee the political evolution of the country. Therefore, any retrogressive and backward movement is deemed contrary to such an evolution and contradicts the Renaissance Revolution. In other words, this nation is not devoid of progressive thoughts in essence.
Note-8: Designation of the national flag and the national anthem of the revolution is not to be emphasized by the Manifesto as a matter of principle. It is obvious that at the appropriate time after the nationwide elections and the appointment of the relevant specialized council, a new flag design and national anthem reminiscent of the progressive revolution of the people will be chosen. However, it is recommended to use a simple tricolor flag (green, white, and red) until further notice in order to show unity among people and avoid pluralism and division between diverse populations.
Note-9: Equality of all ethnicities, races, people of various creeds and different religions, and the freedom of activity for all, is an evident principle addressed in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and in Principle 4 of this Manifesto as well. In addition, the trustees and representatives of the people will be elected from all ethnicities, different religions, groups, and populations, which is an obvious prerequisite.
Note-10: The “Renaissance Revolution” involves overturning all the rotten frameworks of the past. Therefore, this concept indicates that the current political infrastructure of the country is decaying and has permanently lost the possibility of any reforms, as all its various pillars are rotten, fundamentally corrupt, and unreformable.
Note-11: Since a single-party system is indicative of outer and inner tyranny, the Renaissance Revolution cannot be in line with the one-party system at all (the past history shows that such systems have been horribly destroyed). It is obvious that liberal parties representing diversity of people must be founded to freely pursue their mission as protectors of the interests of people, supervise the welldoing of all those involved in the country’s administration, and introduce elites and experts to serve the people in various positions, without [the parties] interfering in the administration of the country’s affairs by themselves.
Note-12: Before the national referendum is held, any appointment of individuals or groups to the positions of the country’s administrative affairs would indicate an imposition on the nation and the emergence of a new dictatorship system. Therefore, it is necessary for the nation to prevent the formation of another despotic system by standing against such undercurrents with full vigilance. Every Iranian must realize that any imposition of individuals or groups prior to the elections is a sign of embracing an emerging dictatorship and thus a flagrant betrayal of the oppressed nation.
Note-13: The use of national assets, facilities and what is provided by the people’s taxes for any personal purposes is prohibited for all individuals specifically those involved in the country’s administrative affairs.
Note-14: Any vote purchasing, making the citizens feel beholden by distributing food, is prohibited. The voters are indeed sworn to consider the rights of the nation instead of driving the nation into misery in such ways, otherwise they will be partners in the crime of the tyrants of time. Those who mean to purchase the people’s votes certainly have no intention other than looting the country, and this is how they invest on it.
Note-15: As history proves, the majority of statesmen evade their obligation and easily break their oaths. Thus, it is necessary that the formal oath-taking be eliminated, and more practical rules and measurements that can detect violations and remove perpetrators replace such redundant ceremonies. The only effective tool against the administrators’ betrayal of the country’s affairs lies in ensuring the nation’s dominance over its affairs and employment of statesmen, and the oath-taking is not to be counted on at all. Therefore, only the supervision of the nation can prevent the plunder of the country. It is worth noting that the oppression and terror are imposed on the nation by a political system only because of the plunder and looting of the country, so that people do not dare to protest. If the plunder is prevented, then the oppression will also be restrained by itself.
Note-16: The whole diversity of the nation has the right to safe shelter. In this very age, with foreseeable severe earthquakes ahead, it is absolutely necessary to make nationwide plans to retrofit the dwellings of all Iranians anywhere in the country specifically in earthquake-prone areas.
Note-17: The establishment of any guards under any title or pretext such as the Imperial Guard, Presidential Guard, etc. is prohibited and deemed illegal. Such an initiation marks the beginning of conspiracy against the nation and is a waste of the country’s budget.
Mohammad Ali Taheri
Founder of Taheri Peace Organization
Founder of Erfan Keyhani Halgheh
26 October 2022
