THE DEMOCRATIC CHANCE OF THE CENTURY FOR IRAN

A message to all Iran activists and supporters who might be able and willing to share the following reflections.

I am deeply concerned about the divisiveness, the hostility and the authoritarianism among the Iran diaspora. The tensions and conflicts between royalists and leftists and… are a bitter foretaste of the battles to come between these opposing parties in the Iranian democracy. And the dragon of violence, corruption and authoritarianism that has devoured Arab countries since their “spring“, is already waiting for its next prey.

However, a liberal, pluralistic democracy without partisanship and parties is possible. A democracy that cannot be corrupted by power-hungry, careerist politicians, by the most cunning rhetoricians and manipulators. A democracy that is truly representative of the people—legislative bodies selected at random from the entire society. These stratified samples of the Iranian people will consist 50/50 of men/women, of young, old, wealthy, poor, of all ethnic and religious groups…

Here is the basic idea:

Of course, a viable structure and procedure are needed to make this work on a larger scale: for legislation and government. Terrill Bouricius, a former independent MP (and political companion of Bernie Sanders), has developed such a concept for legislative procedures and institutions based on lottery, as well as for a government of experts appointed, controlled, assessed, held accountable and, if necessary, dismissed by such non-corruptible institutions:

https://kairos.social/public/An_Idealized_Design_for_the_Legislative.pdf
https://kairos.social/public/An_Idealized_Design_for_Government._Part.pdf

Here is a recent seminar on this topic: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1B36ipd3ol2jQNIvvZT5BVO_GWfIOC5o5/view (extensive, clear and convincing; towards the end he even states, “Imagine what could have become of the Arab Spring with democratic institutions selected by lot!”).

THE LITMUS TEST FOR THE IRAN DIASPORA

Sortition, as political random selection is called, is also a litmus test for the Iran diaspora right now. Ask any of its representatives: “If the future democracy in Iran will not be based on parties (including yours) and politicians (not even you), but solely on ordinary people selected at random representatively from the entire Iranian populace: are you still willing to be involved? Yes or no?”

Anyone who has a—more or less hidden—political agenda will decline because he or she will not be able to put it into practice. A democracy based on sortition does not allow for any personal or party agenda, neither left nor right, neither Sunni nor Shiite, neither royalist nor anything else. Anyone who is committed to a non-partisan democracy must let go. It's about letting go of the rudder so that civil society can take over.

For the first time in history, this will be a true “government of the people, by the people, for the people.” Whoever can say yes to such a democracy by renouncing his personal ambitions is on the good side. Those who place their personal ambitions and agenda higher than the free will of the Iranian people are on the bad side. The crucial question to the Iran diaspora is simply this: IRAN OR EGO?

As soon as the “good diaspora” can agree to work in a non-partisan way towards a democracy based on sortition, there will be no more wing wars between monarchists, leftists, etc.; not now and not in the future Iranian democracy. This is the democratic chance of the century for Iran.

Thank you very much for sharing.