MP: Do Not Limit Individual Rights

Iranian blogger, Maryam Kashani, Rooz Online:

While most members of Iran’s Parliament may be grouped as conservative and hardliner, not all support other conservatives. Recently four presidential nominees for cabinet positions were turned down by conservatists. Emad Afrough was one of the conservative MPs who eloquently spoke of the weaknesses of the candidates and warned of the consequences of confirming unsuitable individuals to critical executive positions. Through these debates, he also highlighted some of the major issues facing the country. The following are excerpts of an exclusive interview he had with Maryam Kashani of ROOZ Online. READ MORE

Q- You have said that the future will bring challenges to freedom?
A- Recently there has been talk of citizen rights in Iran. Bt this has focused on the individual. Nothing about social or group rights. There has been a natural reaction to that. But I think we will again see a rise in demand and activism for individual rights.

Q- Under what conditions does a society turn to individual rights?
A- Whenever no attention is paid to them. This also happened in Iran’s Constitutional movement in early 1900s. That movement brought European emphasis on the individual home, and then there was a reaction. This is related to how we view society in general and we must define it. Is society composed of individuals who define the role of their government, or is it an organism where individuals are simply its members. Where is the emphasis and where is the priority. Or is there a third option where both the individual and society form the essence. From this perspective, individual rights cannot heed to social community rights, while community rights too cannot heed to individual ones. I believe in this third perspective. “Potentially unlimited government” is the name I give to this.

Q- What signs have you seen of too much group or social emphasis that you think things will reverse in future towards individual rights?
A- I am only warning that with more social demands, the government may only address that. Still no matter what, a government that sees itself responsible to the Islamic Revolution will have a social focus, i.e. it will promote both individual and social rights.

Q- So the current government is at the other spectrum when compared to the previous one?
A- I am only sending a warning message. We should not go from one extreme to the other, centralism versus decentralism. The constitutional movement (a social event) produced Reza Khan’s coup d’etat (a dictator), and the oil nationalization movement (a social event) brought about his son’s coup d’etat (an authoritarian regime). So I warn Ahmadinejad not to curtail individual rights for the sake of the nation or society, as it will produce a backlash.

Q- When you say these words, people have identified you with a political group.
A- People say things. I have not participated even in one sitting of the Sazemane Mojahedin Engelab Eslami group.

Q- So you do not belong to any political group?
A- Not in the sense of filling a form and officially becoming a member. Never.

Q- But you have been on the list of the Abadgaran ..
A- Yes, but I have also been on 5 other lists. I have been writing about justice for years. And I have my own views on this. Justice can contain freedom, but freedom cannot contain justice.

Q- Freedom vs. justice?
A- No I do not say they are a sum zero game. But I do say that when you discuss freedom, you invariably ask for whom. This is where justice comes in.

Q- This is contrary to what Khatami has said that they failed because while they wanted to bring about justice, they ignored freedom.
A- I think if you really take a comprehensive view at justice, it will include freedom. In any case, I think freedom is a secondary value, while justice is first.

Q- But can there be justice if there is no freedom?
A- No. When I say second, I am not negating it. By justice I mean people must have their basic needs, which cannot be brought about by force. People must attain them themselves. And this cannot be done without freedom. In Islam too we say that freedom must exist so people can make their choices.

Q- Do you think this is possible with the new government?
A- I believe we need to have the conditions to critique ourselves from within. We must also differential between the Islamic Revolution and the Islamic Republic. The republic must be judged against the revolution standards. So we should not say, as is a lot, that the revolution is weakened just because something is wrong with the republic or its policies. So we must openly criticize what is done that is contrary to the ideals of the revolution.

Q- A lot has been said about the two main cabinet posts. Can they be critiqued?
A- Yes.

Q- These views need supporters. Are they there?
A- Excellent! But they are few. When they become the majority, we will be in peace.

Q- How would you do that?
A- This is a necessity. I think real intellectuals should focus on enlightening the masses, instead of trying to capture political or institutional power. I think our fourth generation intellectuals are now becoming aware of this. I think my criticism of the cabinet members received wide public support because of this.

Q- Did president Ahmadinejad welcome your criticism?
A- He did not attack them. He welcomed them. He showed signs of accepting them.