[i][b]Esfahani Courier[/b][/i]

[b]LAND REDISTRIBUTION ACT RULED UNCONSTITUTIONAL BY SUPREME COURT ; TENSIONS IN RULING COALITION[/b]

	The Land Redistribution Act, which the Majlis voted last October, has been struck down by the Supreme Court. The bill, which ordered all properties over 10,000 acres to be broken up, and which mandated that tenant farmers have an at least 50% share of all properties over 100 acres, was ruled to contravene the basic rights of property inscribed in the Law, insomuch as the expropriation was deemed not to be conducted in the superior interests of the State. Furthermore, the court judged that the compensations offered to the owners were insufficient.

	With this ruling, the court confirms its status as a staunch opponent of the SPP-lead government, with similarly negative decisions expected in the coming months on the reforms enacted since the coalition arrived in power last August. This faces the authorities with the challenge of finding an alternative method to apply the reforms while making them palatable to the Supreme Court, whose 9 members, none of which can be considered to be sympathetic to Socialism, will not make it an easy task.

	As the conflict with the Judicial system opens, so does a rift in the ruling coalition, as the uneasy compromise between the various factions composing the SPP as well as the groups which associated with it following last summer's scandals appears increasingly fragile. While the most radical among the SPP speak openly of disregarding the court's decision, if not simply forcibly replacing the justices, others are starting to question the feasibility and even desirability of certain campaign promises.

	Dariush Kayrani, widely considered as the spokesperson of the leftmost faction of the party, has made in recent weeks repeated calls for the "uprising of the proletariat", and the "rightful reclamation of the lands and factories by those whose blood and sweat have made this country great". In so doing he has openly criticized the perceived lack of "revolutionary ardor" of the current cabinet, and most of all the First Delegate, Mahmud Hotami, whom he heckles at party rallies as an "agent of Capital". Supported by a significant portion of the militants, he demands the immediate dissolution of the Supreme Court, the destitution of the Shah, and the start of a vast campaign to collectivize the countryside, occupy factories, and eradicate religion. 

	Sara Gamool, one of the members of the Central Bureau of the party closest to the FD, has often faced off with Dariush Kayrani. Justifying the executive's actions, she has said, again and again, that the government must respect the democratic institutions of the state, and the Constitution as it stands, until a new Constitution will have been drafted and adopted. As a consequence, though she expressed her "profound disappointment" at the ruling of the Supreme Court, she said the executive had to respect the verdict of the highest court of justice in the nation. She added she trusted the FD would not rest until lands were fairly distributed and until all farmers could live with dignity from the toil of their land.

	Tensions run high within the party itself, but it is with its external partners that they seem to be reaching a critical point. Ruhollah Shanjari, a liberal activist from the Center for Freedom, declared earlier today that "the Court's decision gives us the opportunity to reflect on what we are trying to achieve with this law. I think it was too extreme, and would have adversely affected the country's economic growth. Perhaps the ruling comes at the right moment, and will allow a healthy, moderate debate on land reform." This wing of the coalition, always uneasy with the SPP's ideology, is pushing for a strong shift towards the political center.

	These voices of dissent are increasingly undermining the government's authority, but they do not yet threaten its majority in the Majlis. Professor Muhammad Marissian, who teaches politial science at the University of Tabriz, explained that "the coalition is held together by fear of the PR (Party of Righteousness). Everyone knows that if it falters, the PR will return to power. Furthermore, in the current tense geopolitical environment, it is understood that a weak leftist government in Persia is an easy target for anticommunist governments such as Spain. It is a matter of survival that, despite the very wide array of ideological positions present within the coalition, all factions support the government's opposition to Spain's and the other European powers' neocolonial attitude, indeed pushing for more direct intervention to help the Pan-African Empire."

	The coalition's hold on power seems, for the moment, assured, but if the standoff with the Supreme Court continues, and if trust is not restored between its members, turbulent times might be ahead of us.