Muslim People's Republic Party
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Muslim People's Republic Party
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|---|---|
| Leader | Mohammad Kazem Shariatmadari |
| Founded | 25 February 1979 |
| Dissolved | January 1980 (banned) |
| Headquarters |
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| Membership | 3,000,000 claimed |
| Ideology |
Clericalism Islamic democracy Islamic liberalism Iranian nationalism Pluralism Collective leadership Social conservatism |
| Political position | Centre |
| Religion | Islam |
The Muslim People's Republic Party (MPRP) or Islamic People's Republican Party (IPRP; Persian: حزب جمهوری خلق مسلمان ایران, translit. Ḥezb-e jomhuri-e ḵalq-e mosalmān-e Irān) was a short-lived party associated with Shia Islamic cleric Shariatmadari. It was founded in 1979 during the Iranian Revolution as a "moderate, more liberal counterweight" to the theocratic, Islamist Islamic Republican Party (IRP) of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, and disbanded in 1980.
The party was founded around March 1979. by a "group of bazaar merchants, middle-class politicians, and clerics associated with Khomeini's chief rival in Qom", the Grand Ayatollah Mohammad Kazem Shariatmadari. In contrast to the Islamic Republican Party, the Muslim People's Republican Party emphasized "collective" religious leadership - as opposed to leadership by Khomeini - "criticized the unruly behavior" of the revolutionary committees and the "harsh judgment" of the revolutionary courts, was ready to cooperate with the secular parties, and demanded free access for all to the broadcast media." The MPRP "immediately came under attack from the" IRP and the MPRP's offices in "Karaj, Arak, Saveh, Ardabil, and Khalkhal were attacked."
In November 1979 the party and its clerical adviser, Shari'atmadari (who was not a member), became a rallying point of Iranians who opposed the proposed new theocratic constitution of the Islamic Republic, which was soon to be voted on in a national referendum. In return, the party and the cleric were attacked by the state-controlled media. Khomeini met with Shariatmadari on December 6 and delivered "what appears to have been an ultimatum" to him.
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