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Council for Coordinating the Reforms Front
Political party in Iran From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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The Council for Coordinating the Reforms Front[3] (Persian: شورای هماهنگی جبهه اصلاحات), also referred to as the Reformist Front Coordination Council[4] or the Second of Khordad Front, is a political organization in Iran. It is the primary umbrella organization,[1] coalition[3] and council[4] of political groups among the Iranian reformists. Since 2015, it is overseen by the Reformists' Supreme Council for Policy-making.[5]
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Formation
On 13 November 1999, eighteen groups came together to form the "Council for Coordinating of 2nd of Khordad Front" (Persian: شورای هماهنگی جبهه دوم خرداد) with the aim of laying down a unified reformist strategy.[2] The coalitions's namesake, 2 Khordad 1376, is the date of Mohammed Khatami's landslide victory in the 1997 Iranian presidential election according to the Solar Hijri calendar.[1] The 18 groups were later nicknamed "Second of Khordad Front G-18" (Persian: گروههای هیجدهگانه جبهه دوم خرداد).[6]
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Loose coalition in reform era
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The coalition was able to gain a supermajority in the 2000 Iranian legislative election and won almost all 30 seats in the most important constituency, Tehran.[7] However, the coalition was "loose". While different groups of the coalition pursued slightly different priorities, on the whole they supported Mohammad Khatami's reforms.[7]
Despite reformists winning all 15 seats of City Council of Tehran in 1999, clashes and disagreements between councilors of the Executives of Construction Party, the Islamic Iran Participation Front and the Islamic Iran Solidarity Party gradually reached the point that the city council was dissolved by Ministry of Interior two months prior to the 2003 local elections. The Council for Coordinating the Reforms Front declared that it was not supporting any of the incumbent councilors in Tehran, making an issue of compromise on a unified electoral list.[8] The member groups failed to form an alliance and every group endorsed its own candidates, with more than 10 reformist electoral lists issued. They reformists had a major defeat, losing all seats to the principlist Alliance of Builders of Islamic Iran. Following the election, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad became Mayor of Tehran.[9]
After many of the coalition's candidates were disqualified for the 2004 parliamentary elections by the Guardian council, reformist MPs held a sit-in protest in the Islamic Consultative Assembly. On 31 January 2004 the council declared it "will not participate in the election".[10] As a result, the principlists won the election.[11]
In the 2005 Iranian presidential election, reformists were unable to put forward a coalition candidate based on consensus. The Executives of Construction Party supported Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani and Mojahedin of the Islamic Revolution of Iran Organization endorsed the Participation Front candidate Mostafa Moeen. The Association of Combatant Clerics' secretary-general, Mehdi Karroubi, and Mohsen Mehralizadeh were other candidates supported by various reformist groups. With Mahmoud Ahmadinejad winning the election in run-off, the reformists lost another office to principlists.[12][13]
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In opposition
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In 2006, two elections were held simultaneously: Assembly of Experts and local elections. The council reached a joint electoral list; however, newly founded reformist National Trust Party led by Mehdi Karroubi decided to issue its own list and endorsed some principlist candidates for Assembly of Experts.[14]
In the 2008 parliamentary election, despite many reformists being disqualified,[15] the front compromised to support a shared list of candidates, named "Reformists Coalition". The National Trust Party endorsed its own candidates.[16]
Reformists were defeated in all three elections.[17]
Green movement
In the 2009 Iranian presidential election, the council released a statement announcing its support for Mir Hossein Mousavi.[18] Amidst protests against the election results the council called for nonviolent protests against the government. On the anniversary of the 1979 Iranian revolution, they issued a statement, saying "We will show all of the small-minded people who sit on the thrones as rulers, and label any opposition as tools of foreign enemies, the fate of single-voiced [autocratic] systems and establishments ... We come to scream on behalf of the political prisoners, most of whom were present in the 1357 [1979] revolution and tell them [the authorities] that in lieu of imprisonments and violence against the people, you must return to the fundamentals and the original values".[3]
Post-protests crackdown
The aftermath of poll protests trial, the reformists were put under pressure by the government.[19] In September 2010, a court declared that two leading parties of the coalition, the Islamic Iran Participation Front and the Mojahedin of the Islamic Revolution Organization, were to be banned.[20] The two parties, alongside the Office for Strengthening Unity, have not attended the council sessions since due to pressures.[21]
In December 2011, Khatami said "When all signs indicate that we must not participate in this election (2012 Iranian legislative election), participation in the election is meaningless." Meanwhile, the council announced that it had no hope that the election would be held freely and fairly, so they would not be participating in the election, "not to present a unified list [of candidates] and not to support anyone [in the race]."[22] Despite the decision, members of the council, including the Democracy Party, the Islamic Labour Party and Worker House decided to run for the elections outside the council.[23] While the council's position was interpreted as an "election boycott" by some, Khatami unexpectedly cast his vote in the rural Damavand County, despite the fact he lives in Tehran, to "keep the windows to reformism open."[24]
In the 2013 Iranian presidential election, the council endorsed Hassan Rouhani after Khatami convinced Mohammad Reza Aref to withdraw from the race.[25] With Rouhani taking the office, the appointment of some reformist figures in his cabinet offered the reformist camp a lifeline.[26] In the 2013 local elections, the council made up the "Reformists Coalition" list, including moderate reformists and some 'not-so-familiar names' for the City Council of Tehran.[27] The results showed a swing towards reformist candidates nationwide, and in Tehran they won 13 seats out of 31.[28]
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Membership
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The Presidency of the council is a rotating position shared between all member parties.[21]
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References
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