Robin Wright reviews the three manifestos:
The statements set tough preconditions for a political truce: resignation of the current leadership, introduction of broad democratic freedoms, prosecution of security forces engaged in violence against the opposition and an end to politics in the military, universities and the clergy.
The proposed reforms would amount to a total overhaul of the system. But they also reflect a common desire to prevent an all-out confrontation by engaging the regime in compromise and ending the escalating violence. The three sets of demands all accept that Iran will remain an Islamic republic, if largely in name only.
Abdolkarim Soroush explains in a (translated) interview given to Welt Online here:
It will better define, articulate and clarify the aims and intentions of today’s opposition. This is what we need at this stage. For many years now I have been saying that the revolution had no theory. It was a revolution against the Shah – a negative rather than positive theory. I was insistent that the new movement should have a theory. The people should know what they want, not only what they don’t want. That is why we are trying – in our modest way – to create a theory for this movement. (via)
Broadly in the theme of the Green Movement is this excellent piece from Spiegel Online about citizen journalism in Iran:
The surprise element in the Iranian situation defies the wisdom of Western media, trained to focus on the power structure at the top. The extreme form of control that the Islamic Republic has tried to impose has boomeranged in a way that this type of reporting finds difficult to explain. The decentralised form of the current resistance seems to follow the example set by the women’s movement over the last three years. Their network form of organisation and its communication via the internet paved the way for this diffuse form of political activity.
You can see why all the manifestos demand freedom of the press.
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