Speech [The expediency of electing committed representatives to the parliament; building up Iran and the young generation]

In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful

I also congratulate my own friends and you gentlemen for this referendum, which thanks God, was held in Iran and which is unique in history both from qualitative and quantitative aspects. Quantitatively, twenty million out of thirty-five million population voted affirmatively, and qualitatively, people were all willing and were enthusiastic to vote. These two aspects have been unprecedented in the world so far and will prove rare in the future. I congratulate you for this blessing and great feast. Yet the point that I should bring up is the fact that our task will have to be continued. At this stage, we have to hold our Constituents Assembly, which has to be convened, and the nation's representatives must gather there to pass the new constitutional law. This is an issue of the same importance that was attached to the voting to the Islamic Republic.

You, gentlemen, and all the people of this nation should safeguard this movement in the same way that it has been protected so far. You must maintain the same degree of fervency and zeal in order to pass through this stage. All of us should in reality elect those deputies who we wish for the parliament. We must elect those who are learned, trustworthy to the nation, those who have no leftist or rightist leanings and those who respect Islam and love their country, those who have no shortcoming regarding the issues of Muslims and Islam. We must choose such people for the Constituents Assembly to ratify the Islamic Constitutional law. After that, we have another stage ahead of us that has to be handled by this provisional government. That stage concerns the setting up of the Islamic Consultative Assembly. God willing, that parliament will not be similar to the parliament in the past fifty years, which had no bond to the people. The nation did not know anything about it. It did not know its representatives. All those deputies were in fact deputies of one single person. That is, the president of the United States, or the incumbent king in line with foreign embassies. The former king himself once said that," The list of deputies would come from the embassies and we would elect deputies the way they wished." «1»

God willing, such issues will no longer take place or recur and this will be achieved with the determination and solidarity of the entire nation. You yourselves witnessed how you triumphed over all satanic powers with the solidarity, unity of word and your consensus in wanting an Islamic republic. From now on too, if you maintain the power of yours and this unity of expression, God will be with you. If you safeguard this unity of expression and dependence on God, you will emerge victorious with both the Constituents Assembly, and the Consultative Assembly. Do not let the ill wishers of the nation to interfere in the affairs of these two parliaments. Do not let people who wish ill for the nation and who wish the good of tyrants to be elected to the Constituents Assembly. Do not allow those who are affiliated to the superpowers to be elected to this parliament. With its own discretion, determination and making use of its own privilege, the nation should designate individuals who are competent, pious, and who will work for Iran and for the benefit of Iran so that these three stages will be completed.

After this stage, we have still another task and that is the reconstruction of Iran, the whole of it. There exist among these classes of people, individuals who are taghouti in appearance and in essence. The banks too, have a taghouti form; usury is practiced in banks. You may also assume that other classes of the society, other institutions, the judiciary, and educational institutions are also patterned after the east and western systems. Of course, they (Pahlavi regime) had exerted many efforts to deviate the people and the youth from their own (right) path in these last fifty-odd years and even before this dynasty. Now, we should make efforts to transform this young force, to transform them into learned, Islamic and virtuous human beings who will be useful to their country, and this is expected from all strata of the people. One single stratum cannot accomplish this task alone. The confusion existing in the country now among the people and, and the ruins, which was bequeathed to us, has to be rebuilt through everybody's efforts. You, the young people should advance this cause and safeguard this movement. Of course, regarding the banks, there should definitely be a transformation and God willing, it will gradually be done.

May God's peace, mercy and blessings be upon you.