Hamid Taqvaee, Leader of the Worker-communist Party of Iran, said that the decisive role in Iran’s transition to democracy should not be reduced to political parties or elite agreements, but must instead place social movements and mass organisations at the centre of the process to prevent the reproduction of authoritarian rule.
Hamid Taqvaee, Leader of the Worker-communist Party of Iran, said that the decisive role in Iran’s transition to democracy should not be reduced to political parties or elite agreements, but must instead place social movements and mass organisations at the centre of the process to prevent the reproduction of authoritarian rule.
According to Iran Human Rights (IHRNGO), Taqvaee made the remarks at the conference “Human Rights in Post–Islamic Republic Iran,” held in Oslo on 18–19 October 2025. Criticising approaches that reduce political change to commitments made by parties, he said that historical experience shows that real change is not produced solely through negotiations behind closed doors but through social movements, mass protests and grassroots organisations. He added that the extent to which civil demands and social discourses are reflected in political structures depends directly on the social base and collective capacities of political forces.
Taqvaee said that political parties must therefore see themselves as reflections of society. Their programmes and actions, he argued, should be shaped by the social realities and collective demands that exist within the broader public sphere.
Referring to recent movements, including the Woman, Life, Freedom uprising, Taqvaee said that these developments have gone beyond street protests and have already produced organisations, charters and public figures capable of playing a role in managing a transition period. “In revolutionary situations, power emerges from the streets and from social organisations,” Taqvaee said, “not merely from agreements between parties.” He added that any framework for managing a transition should therefore include the active participation of civil organisations and local councils.
The leader of the Worker-communist Party of Iran warned that historical experiences—including the period following the 1979 revolution, the collapse of the Soviet Union and the Arab Spring—demonstrate the risks of ignoring the social role of movements or neglecting mechanisms of transitional justice and participation. While some models have achieved partial successes, he noted that no single model can be copied blindly and that lessons must be drawn from different experiences to prevent the re-emergence of authoritarian structures.
Taqvaee also emphasised the importance of maintaining a space for free expression and criticism during the transition period. Freedom of expression, he said, does not mean endorsing every statement, but ensuring that the public sphere remains a place for debate, critique and persuasion. “The force that prevails will be the one capable of convincing the majority of society,” Taqvaee added.
He called for strengthening councils, trade unions, professional associations and local organisations, describing them as the most important social capital for managing the transition period.
“Institutionalising democracy requires both proper institutional design and strong social foundations,” Taqvaee said, “and if political parties and elites fail to recognise and work alongside the social capacities of popular movements, the danger of repeating earlier cycles of authoritarianism will remain.”
Translated from Farsi via machine translation and lightly edited for clarity.