1963 Iranian referendum

Iranian referendum White Revolution referendum Imperial State of Iran 1933 "White Revolution of the Shah and the People": Abolition of the landowner–tenant system by land reform Nationalization of forests and pastures Sale of government factories for the purpose of financing land reform Making workers shareholders of factories they worked in Reform of electoral laws Creation of the Literacy Corps 1963 1 26 y 5,589,711 4,115 5,593,826 6,098,277 271,179 announced additional votes cast by women were counted separately but not considered in the official results thumb|Women voting in the referendum A referendum was held in Iran on 26 January 1963 by the decree of Mohammad Reza Shah, with an aim to show popular support for him, asking voters to approve or veto the reforms of the White Revolution.Lloyd Ridgeon Religion and Politics in Modern Iran: A Reader 2005 I.B.Tauris 978-1-84511-073-4 173 Women were not officially allowed to vote, but were set up to vote at their own balloting counters and dedicated boxes, at the suggestion of Ministry of Agriculture Hasan Arsanjani. The results gave Iranian women the right to vote.Lois Beck Guity Nashat Women in Iran from 1800 to the Islamic Republic University of Illinois Press 2004 978-0-252-07189-8 139 Criticism Despite the apparent benign nature of the proposals in the referendum, there was significant opposition.Elton L. Daniel Elton L. Daniel The History of Iran ABC-CLIO 157 2012 978-0313375095 Opponents included major landowners, ulema and communists. Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini called for boycotting the referendum as "un-Islamic".Edward Willett Ayatollah Khomeini The Rosen Publishing Group 42 2003 9780823944651 National Front boycotted the referendum, criticizing that the measures did not come from the parliament. Voters were asked six questions, but had only the option to vote yes or no to the total package. The ballots for 'Yes' were white, while the negative ones were green.Four Ways of Politics: State and Nation in Italy, Somalia, Israel, Iran: The Dynamics of Political Participation as Exhibited in Four Countries Caught Up in the Process of Modernization American Universities Field Staff 260 1965 E. A. Bayne Similar to the previous referendum, polling places lacked secrecy and there were two separate voting booths: one for the supporters and one for the opponents. "No sane man would enter the opposition booth", according to Mohammad Gholi Majd.Majd Mohammad Gholi Resistance to the Shah: Landowners and Ulama in Iran University Press of Florida 2000 260–261 978-0813017310 Party policies Position Organization RefYesNationalists’ PartyPeople's PartyPan-Iranist PartyBoycottNational FrontFreedom MovementHiro Dilip Iran Under the Ayatollahs (Routledge Revivals) Routledge 2013 978-1135043810 104 Results ChoiceVotes%For5,589,71199.9Against4,1150.1Abstain00Total votes5,593,826100Registered voters6,098,277—Source: Nohlen et al.Dieter Nohlen Dieter Nohlen Florian Grotz Christof Hartmann 2001 Elections in Asia: A Data Handbook Iran Oxford University Press I 72 978-0-19-924958-9 and ZonisMarvin Zonis Marvin Zonis Political Elite of Iran Princeton University Press 75–77 2015 9781400868803 Aftermath 1963 demonstrations in Iran Following the referendum, dissension and riots broke out in almost all major urban areas, most significantly in Tehran and Qom. The Shah gave orders for the immediate suppression of the opposition. The National Front, the Freedom Movement, the Tudeh Party, as well as religious activists were imprisoned. The unrest made Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini the regime's principal opponent in the minds of many Iranians. References 2 Category:Referendums in Iran Iran Constitutional referendum Category:Suffrage referendums Category:Electoral reform referendums Category:Privatisation referendums Category:Women's rights in Iran Category:Women's suffrage in Iran