ESTABLISHMENT OF THE NATIONAL COUNCIL OF IRAN FOR FREE ELECTIONS

 

The formation of the National Council of Iran for Free Elections (“NCIFE”) was first considered in early 2011 by several prisoners of conscience detained within the Islamic Republic of Iran who joined political activists enduring house arrest in that country. Since then, scores of other individuals, organizations and human rights activists have joined original core group to sustain and advance its cause. It bears emphasizing that since the group was originally founded, its manifesto has been revised on no less than 43 occasions to accommodate the widest spectrum of individuals and civic organizations. The rallying cry from inside Iran has been to canvass the assistance of individuals outside Iran, neither hindered by fear of reprisal from the apparatus ofthe Islamic Republic of Iran, nor shackled by the brutality of the regime, to act as their constabulary in amplifying the voices of Iranians demanding free and fair elections. To date, the broadest array of individuals and nascent political organizations spanning the full ideological spectrum, including monarchists and republican sympathizers alike, minority religious and ethnic leaders representing all corners of Iran have contributed their energies, ideas and input to establish the National Council of Iran and adopt its Charter. In October 2011, an Interim Committee was formed with a mandate to convene a Founding Congress of the National Council of Iran by mid 2013. By September 2012, the 44 th iteration of the Charter was published and approximately 25,000 individual Iranians, political parties, organizations, activists, and media outlets endorsed the objectives of the NCIFE by signing the penultimate version of the Charter. In March 2013, an election has been organized over the Internet where 500 founding members were elected. The Founding Congress had been held in Paris on 27 & 28 April, with these 500 members. While 250 individuals took the time to personally attend the meetings in Paris, an additional 250 individuals followed the proceeding via the Internet and assisted by engaging in electronic voting. -On the first day of the Founding Congress, the members adopted the Charter and agreed to the status of the National Council of Iran for Free Elections. On the 2day, 9 individuals were elected for the Political Office of the NCIFE, while 35 persons were appointed to the High Council of the NCIFE. Finally the General Assembly elected Prince Reza Pahlavi as the official spokesperson for our organization.