IRAN Clergy serves Mammon,but badly MADE TO order for Khomeini, the second Majles, or parliament, of the Islamic Republic was elected in two rounds April 15 and May 18, 1984. These elections represented a milestone for the clerical regime, decimating or eliminating entirely the factions not under the thumb of the "Imam. " Khomeini's right-hand man, Majles speaker Hashemi Rafsanjani, crowed, "Having seen the new Majles members, I am sure we can get on well." He added, "This time we won't have the old troublemakers."
Commenting on these elections in our July 2, 1984 issue, Saber Nikbeen wrote: "It would seem ... that less than six years after the February insurrection, the Khomeini regime is now consolidating its political rule and ensuring an unchallenged grip for the next four years." But, he asked, "how stable can this regime be? Despite all its victories over the masses, this question is not yet decided." This hand-picked Majles has not been in office more than a year. Its record is an indication both of the regime's objectives and its contradictions. SABER NIKBEEN
As predicted after the elections, this session of the Majles has approved many bills that clearly show its capitalist orientation. The nost important of these are the following:
In the first instance, there is the bill on "The limits of methods of operation for the private sector." (The way for this piece of legislation was paved by an earlier bill that already restricted the power of the state sector to intervene in distribution through compulsory purchases and rationing.)
Secondly, there was the bill on the "Islamic Associations and Shoras," and then the "New Amended Labour Codes." (The ground was prepared demagogically for the latter by a bill giving workers "shares in industry.")
After the Imam came out openly in support of the private sector and opposed government "intervention" in the name of "giving people their work" and allowing "these people" to run the economy, many leading politicians followed suit.
Representing the Council of Guardians, the body engaged with safeguarding the Islamic constitution, Imame-e-Kashani interpreted the Imam's words as meaning, "The Imam has ordered that there should not be any obstacle to more things coming from the Bazaar." (1) The mullah in charge of the Foundation for the Mostazafin [The Wretched of the Earth] declared, "If I were minister of industries, I would have kissed the hand of the private sector." (2)
The chorus was joined by Rafsanjani himself, who proclaimed, "The private sector must be completely in the activated." (3)
In the Majles, there are still some deputies, such as Morteza Razavi, who complain about this course. He said, for example, "The situation is so bad that some think that whatever is more American is more Islamic" He raised the complaint, "Sometimes they even demand that the fishing industries, the railways, transport, etc. be given to the private sector. But when it comes to taxes, they say that they will pay only khoms and zakat [the traditional Islamic levies, which are not progressive]. (4)
Before being removed from his post, Belzad Nabavi, the so-called
1. 'Etela'at', August 29, 1984.
'Etela'at", * July 30, 1984.
3. 'Etela'at", , November 14, 1984.
4. "Etela'at', November 10, 1984.
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----- photo credits and running heads -----
picture. We believe that it must be
socialist minister of heavy industries, said, "It is wrong to say that the Ministry of Heavy Industries is against the growth of the private sector; we welcome it." (5) He was only against "the sort of thinking that calls for turning even the oil wells over to the private sector." (6)
The Majles did not make big giveaways to the private sector. First, they opened up foreign trade. The spokesperson for the Ministry of Trade declared, "Those of us who have our hand in this work have unanimously reached the conclusion that the private sector must have an active role in trade." (7)
The premier, Hussein Mousavi, said that already over the past year the government has given 1% of imports to the cooperatives and 20% to the private sector. (8) The Ministry of Agriculture even announced its willingness to "allow the private sector to enter fields related to fishing."
By all accounts, the private sector has improved its share of profits. On December 12, 1984, Rafsanjani said that in the Islamic year 1362 (1983-1984) private traders were given more than 600 million dollars worth of foreign exchange. Giveaways to the rich
The Plan and Budget Organization put the share of the private industrial sector in the same year at "3.5 billion dollars of foreign exchange for their imports." (9) Private industry's profits for the year were estimated at '280 tomans." This amounts to two thirds of the budget or thirty billion dollars at the official exchange rate. (10)
The foreign trade bill itself was couched in the strongest terms: "The government is duty bound to create government is duty bound to create favourable conditions for the private sector through the providing or renting of instruments and machines, providing raw materials, public services, and other facilities." (11)
This legislation removes all limits on the extent of property that can be held. In the sections dealing with agriculture, the idea of land reform is openly abandoned. No one has the right to take over even those lands abandoned by their owners "unless the owners have given over their rights." Even abandoned lands whose ownership is not clear cannot be taken over.
On the other hand, the law gives its blessing to those who "decide to enter into a mozareeh contract" (i.e., the crop-sharing system of the pre-land-reform era that was abolished under the shah). This points to the revival of the ancient exploitative practices, including forcing poor 18
DOWN WITH
USAUSSR
DOWN WITH
ISRAEL
Demonstration in Tehran June 26, 1984 peasants back into unpaid labour on the lands of absentee landlords.
This "reform" has gone hand in hand with a further normalisation of relations with imperialism. In line with this, the president of the Chamber of Trade, Industry, and Mines said recently that the Iranian regime "acknowledges no limits on extending its trade relations with the world, except for Israel and South Africa." From Israel, in fact, Iran gets spare parts and ammunition for its war machine, and to South Africa it sells crude oil! (12)
The trend now is towards extending trade relations with the European imperialist countries and with Japan. Rafsanjani has already given Japanese imperialism a clean bill of health, saying that Japan "does not follow colonialist policies." (13)
- the 'Day of God' (DR)
Four days earlier, at the end of
June, in an interview with a New
York Times reporter, Rafsanjani said,
"We do not want our relations with
America to be so bad forever. The
Americans must make the first move.
This also needs preparation. It is, of course, a long-term job." (14)
To do its own share in the "preparation," the Iranian regime has done
Washington a good turn by uniting all the Afghani Islamic factions that
Etela at', October 26, 1984.
5.
"Etela'at", Ocbober 31, 1984.
6.
7.
'Etela'at', October 31, 1984.
'Etela'at", February 19, 1985.
8.
"Etela'at", December 19, 1984.
9.
10. 'Etela'at", December 19, 1984.
11. 'Etela'at", January 15, 1985.
"Etela'at"
12.
, August 4, 1985.
13. 'Etela'at", July 3, 1985.
14. 'Etela'at",June 29, 1985. Retranslated from the Persian.
International Viewpoint 28 October 1985
attended the recent conference of the "Democratic International." Among the participants at this affair were the Nicaraguan contras and other counterrevolutionary groups from Angola, Laos, and Kampuchea. Montazeri himself, Khomeini's crown prince, reportedly helped these factions late August 1985 to agree on a "peace pact" and to try to "unite the Islamic nations."
In the area of housing, the urban land bill that was supposed to help the state buy up land for cheap public housing ran into objections from the Council of Guardians. It was then turned into a bill legalising private housing development projects, and reintroduced, after being amended, in April 1985.
The premier had already revealed the government's plans. The private sector is going to be allowed to build the largest share of housing. The latest ingenious plan is to allow all private house owners in the north, that is, the rich part, of Tehran to extend their houses." (15)
The minister of housing has said, "If people thought that the state would one day give them houses, they were mistaken." (16) Later on, he also said, "Through some bad slogans, we helped spread this notion that everybody ought to have a house." (17)
Less than one percent of the budget for the Islamic year 1364 (March 1985 to March 1986) is going to be spent on subsidizing necessities. Some 5% is alloted to health; 11% to education; 8% to the police, Imam's Committees, and the Pasdaran; and 30% on the war. On the other hand, the state bank's credit to the private sector this year will be twice what it was in the last Iranian year (1363), which was already 65% more than in 1357 (March 1978 to March 1979, the period of the revolution). (18)
Despite all these goodies, the private sector is not investing. The government itself says that the "liquidity of the private sector has doubled since 1350 [1980-1981]. "It has reached the staggering total of 900 billion tomans (three times the government's projected income for 1985-1986). Therefore, the regime is constantly under the threat of a catastrophic price explosion.
The plan for the sale of public industry to "the people" announced last February is supposed to remove this danger. It is being sold to the people as a scheme for giving the workers a share of industry. The antiworking-class character of this proposal is only too obvious, however.
The minister of Labour has said that "when workers feel they own the factory, there would be no sense
International Viewpoint 28 October 1985
Parade of Basidjis (volunteers) in the Army of Knowledge (DR)
in pressurizing the proprietors for an increase in wages." (19)
Kanali, the so-called workers reprsentative in the Majles, said "Given the participation of the workers in the profits and losses of industry, it is certain that waste would be reduced, production increased, and tension between workers and bosses lessened." (20)
This "plan" was also intended as a propaganda play before passing the bill on the Islamic Associations and shoras. According to the bill, which became law at the beginning of this year, the "initiative" for electing a shora rests with the Ministry of Labour, and it can be dissolved by a "committee for determining and dissolving the shoras" composed of seven members - three from the workers, three from the bosses, and one from the Ministry of Labour.
These shoras are to represent both the employers and the employees. Their members must accept the Velayat-e-Faghih [the absolute authority of the chief religious leader] and their fitness must be confirmed by a committee including two representatives of the government.
This law reduces the role of the shoras to a consultative one. They have no right to interfere with management, they are not allowed to decide on anything, only to concern themselves with the "legal and social welfare" of the workers.
Such shoras can have a nonvoting representative in management meetings, but they "must not reveal any business secrets of the firm." They must also help the authorities prevent "accidents" in the area of "social problems" (that is, they must spy on the workers).
Even such mutilated shoras can be elected only in large production units, if and when the "High Council of Labour" (made up of five ministers, two managers, and two workers) decides. This law explicity gives the rights of hiring and firing to the management. Even members of the shoras themselves can be sacked, and before their fate is decided by the "Labour Courts, they may not attend shora meetings.
A few weeks after this bill was passed, the High Council of Labour finally agreed, after five years, to increase the minimum wage by • ten tomans a day, to 72 tomans. During the last five years, however, prices have increased at least 20% a year on the average.
Moreover, even the belated increase in the minimum wage is not going to be paid across the board. Its payment is to be tied to implementation of the proposed labour codes. These were kept secret until they were passed by the Majles in June, although they were put before parliament in April.
The labour code of Tavakoli (autumn 1982) encountered such violent opposition from the workers that the government was forced to retreat. The second amended version of winter 1984 was also dropped for the same reasons. The third version is now law, and is just as bad as the previous ones.
The new law rejects all the basic demands raised by the vast majority of the workers - the right to a job, Job security, no arbitrary sackings, a just wage structure, guarantees of the right of collective bargaining and the right to strike.
For the public service sector (food distribution, gas, water, electricity, post and telephone, public transport, oil, etc.), Article 186 of the new code bans all strikes for whatever reasons.
The official workweek has been extended from 44 to 48 hours (Article 66), with only forty minutes a day allowed for breaks (including for prayers). There will be only 18 days of paid holidays a year. According to Article 155, no collective bargaining can be entered into without the permission of the Ministry of Labour.
The minimum age for workers has been set at 15. In reality, it is 12, because under the cover of "on the job training," employing 12 year
15. 'Etela'at', April 23, 1985.
16. 'Etela'at" November 26, 1985.
17. 'Etela'at',January 20, 1985.
18. 'Etela'at', February 2, 1985.
19. 'Etela'at', February 28, 1985.
20, Keyhan, February 27, 1985.
19
SWEDEN olds is permitted by Article 129. The retirement age, however, is left open to be decided by the individual job contract.
The length of maternity leave is to be decided by the Social Security Organisation. The demotion of older workers because of "reduced physical and mental capacities" is permitted by Article 42. All restrictions have been removed on the amount of overtime that can be demanded of workers (Article 74).
Even the meager protections that the code offers workers (less than under the shah) are not binding on private employers. If private firms do not accept these provisions, they "may" be denied governmental services. For firms employing less than ten workers, moreover, the Ministry of Labour can make complete or partial exemptions (Article 207). This provision applies to 300 thousand workplaces employing almost half the workforce.
If workers have "failed repeatedly to carry out their duties or have disobeyed the workplace code of discipline after written warnings," they can be sacked. The code of discipline is to be formulated by the Ministry of Labour at a later date.
All these bills show the real intentions of the majority of the Majles, the government, and the clergy to improve the lot of the capitalists at the expense of the workers, whilst not allowing political power to slip out of the hand of the Khomeini faction.
However, the bourgeoisie is not content. It wants to regain direct control of the government, an end to the war with its huge costs, and a more definite shift towards a pro-Western international policy. The trends indicate that the regime on the whole is moving in that direction, but not fast enough and smoothly enough to satisfy the bourgeoisie. The latter, therefore, is still economically blackmailing the government by not investing.
The economic and political crisis will therefore continue and the war will go on. The only way the clergy can keep the bourgeoisie under control is by keeping its war machine rolling. The main losers are the masses. There are 4 million unemployed, over a million refugees, and a swelling flood from the land to the main urban centers (Tehran now has almost twice the population it did before the revolution). And repressive measures are being stepped up continually.
However, the workers and poor masses are fighting back more and more. I will take up the state of the mass resistance today in an article in a coming issue of Internationa Viewpoint. 20 20