The Green Path of Hope

The Green Path of Hope (Persian: شورای هماهنگی راه سبز امید‎)[1] is an Iranian association established by Iranian presidential campaign candidate, Mir-Hossein Mousavi. It was founded on August 15, 2009 as the organizational body of the Green Movement.[2] Mousavi described it as the "countless self-initiated and independent social networks" which form the body of Green Movement.[3] It has also been mentioned as a "political front" in some media.[4][5]

Green Path of Hope

راه سبز امید
SpokespersonArdeshir Amir Arjomand[1]
FounderMir-Hossein Mousavi
FoundedAugust 15, 2009 (2009-08-15)
LegalisedBanned
National affiliationReform Movement
Green Movement
Colors  Green
Website
rahesabz.net
kaleme.org
sahamnews.org
tahavolesabz.com
irangreenvoice.com
tagheer.cc

Name

According to Mousavi's advisor, Ali Reza Beheshti, Mousavi himself chose the name. He chose the word "Path" to avoid terminology such as "party" or "movement". He also chose the word "green" because of the green color symbol used by protesters, and the word "hope" based on a promise to establish a government of "hope" if elected.[6]

Goals

The Green Path of Hope seeks to continue protests against the legitimacy of Ahmadinejad's presidency following lawful and peaceful ways, and the full execution of the constitution, as Mousavi says:[7]

You can't follow some parts of the constitution and throw the rest into a bin.

History

Mousavi did not name his movement as a political party or even as a movement, but a "path", because, according to Iranian law, parties and movements need to be authorized by the Interior Ministry and since Mousavi does not recognize the government as legitimate and the ministry is unlikely to grant him permission, he chose this name to bypass the law.[6]

Mousavi is quoted in describing the movement:[8]

The Green Path of Hope is formed for the sake of people’s rightful demands and for claiming their rights... the color green is the symbol of this movement; its slogan is demanding the impeccable implementation of the constitution, and innumerable self-motivated independent societies form the body of this movement.

According to organization officials, the movement functions on a campaign basis, including political parties, NGO's and social networks. Referring to the new movement, Mousavi has said "The Green Path of Hope is formed for the sake of people's rightful demands and for claiming their denied rights".[5] He pointed that autonomous and spontaneous social networks in community are part of this movement.[9] "During election our mottos chose and remained in constitutional frame work, today we are devoted to those slogans" he said. "We believe if people's demands were treated fairly and instead of using media to link spontaneous movements to foreigners, government promoted truth by fair criticism, they could satisfy public views", he added.[9]

Methods

The way has six main members of the central council, that are connected to the reformist parties and movements, NGOs, and the social networks. The main body will be the ordinary protesters. The method is to create pressure from the lower parts of the society and make them connected in a social network, and therefore to lead the protests in a lawful way.[6]

Members of the Central Council

The Green Path of Hope has three central leaders. Hossein Ali Montazeri also had a leading role in the movement in the earlier phase of the movement.

#NamePictureOccupationBornPolitical party
1Mir-Hossein MousaviFormer Prime Minister1942Independent
2Mehdi KarroubiFormer Chairman of Parliament1937National Trust Party
3Zahra RahnavardFormer Chancellor of Alzahra University1945Independent

See also

References
  1. "واژه نامه جریان های فعال در انتخابات ریاست جمهوری ایران - BBC Persian" (in Persian). BBC Persian. 13 June 2013. Retrieved 21 August 2015.
  2. "Khatami, Karroubi join Mousavi's Green movement". Press TV. 18 Aug 2009. Retrieved 8 December 2009.
  3. "Iran's Mousavi to lead 'green hope' opposition". SMH. August 16, 2009. Retrieved 26 December 2009.
  4. Mousavi forms new political front, LA Times, August 15, 2009
  5. "Mousavi issues first statments [sic] on "Green path of hope"". Retrieved 2009-08-18.
  6. Copyright: gooya.com 2013. "gooya news :: politics : جزييات "راه سبز اميد" از زبان عليرضا بهشتی: خاتمی و کروبی عضو شورای مرکزی هستند، کميته‌های "راه سبز اميد" در حال شکل گيری است، ايلنا". News.gooya.com. Retrieved 2013-07-26.
  7. Archived July 20, 2010, at the Wayback Machine
  8. Mousavi announces new political party, UPI, August 16, 2009
  9. "Green path of hope, Mousavi's new organization". Archived from the original on 2010-07-23. Retrieved 2009-08-18.
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