Referring to the unbridled aggravation of conflicts at the top of the regime following the Assembly of Experts elections, the NCR President said: The tug-of-war in the elections for the councils -- if not canceled, distorted or limited -- will have no winners within the regime, engulfing it in a deadly contention, and favoring the National Liberation Army and the NCR in their path to overthrow the mullahs.
Pointing to the details of two sets of laws on "Islamic Councils," adopted by the mullahs' Majlis in 1982 and 1996, Mr. Rajavi described them as wholly undemocratic, adding: Because it contradicts the right of the Iranian people to a representative government, the velayat-e faqih system is in no way congruent with a system based on councils.
The NCR President said: "The power struggle within this illegal regime cannot be portrayed as "an opening," "an open environment," "public participation," and "political expansion." If Khatami or any body else who speaks of councils are true to their words, they must first and foremost abandon the constitution which is based on the principle of the velayat-e faqih and recognize the people's right to sovereignty.
According to article 26 of the law adopted in 1996, candidates for the councils must not only show "practical commitment to Islam and the velayat-e faqih," but "must also believe in them."
Article 29 of the same law stipulates: "Those affiliated with illegal parties or organizations," "convicted of taking action against the Islamic Republic" or "apostasy," and "condemned to religious punishment," "cannot run as candidates for the councils."
By appointing monitoring and executive boards and other watchdog organs comprised of the regime's operatives, these laws have blocked entry into these councils of all elements outside the regime. They also stipulate an assortment of mechanisms which allow for the "dissolution of the councils... should they deviate."
Secretariat of the National Council of Resistance of Iran
December 27, 1998
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