Iran bracing for big elections
Raisi: Massive voter turnout key to enhancing social capital
With just one day left until the highly anticipated elections in Iran, the country is making the final touches for the big day. Scheduled for March 1, Iran is bracing itself for two significant elections —the 12th parliamentary and the 6th Assembly of Experts elections.
As the candidate list is now finalized, the country is gearing up for these pivotal elections.
The election campaigns for both the Parliament and the Assembly of Experts wrapped up on Wednesday.
Senior officials, institutions, and organizations have repeatedly called on all Iranians to take part in the countrywide elections, with recent invitations coming from President Ebrahim Raisi.
The president once again urged widespread participation in the elections, emphasizing the importance of seeking public opinion on critical issues and increasing voter turnout as a strategic approach for the country, ultimately leading to a boost in social capital.
He said that all essential infrastructure and arrangements for conducting the 38th round of elections in the country are set up.
The Assembly of Experts and the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) also issued their statements on Tuesday.
The Assembly of Experts, expressing appreciation to the Iranian nation, which has prepared itself for a “conscious presence,” invites everyone to vote with maximum participation, wisdom, and insight, a part of the statement said.
Emphasizing political ethics and people’s rights by the candidates and their supporters, the assembly urges all to cast their votes for individuals who, in “commitment to Islamic principles,” and “adherence to the Constitution,” possess greater competence in insight and management.
This way, with a high vote, the representatives of these two important councils (Parliament and Assembly of Experts) will have a stronger support and, in line with the responsibilities assigned to them in the Constitution, contribute to the progress and prosperity of the Islamic Republic of Iran, resolving the country’s challenges, and obtaining more divine success, it concluded.
The IRGC also invited Iranians from all social strata to vote in the polls, contributing to the enhancement of national power and security.
The elections would guarantee a boost to national security and power, raise social capital, strengthen the capacities and opportunities for the settlement of problems, pave the way for development, and stymie the plots of enemies, the statement said.
The IRGC described a maximum and enlightened turnout in the elections as a main element of religious democracy in Iran, saying the votes have always brought about power, might and credit for Iran in delicate junctures and have disappointed the enemies.
Additionally, supporters have openly expressed their backing for the candidates.
Concurrently with the parliamentary elections, the 6th Assembly of Experts elections will also take place on Friday. Members of the assembly are directly elected to office by the people for an eight-year term.
Assembly of Experts is composed of 88 qualified Islamic jurists and clerics who, based on the Constitution, are responsible for appointing, supervising, and dismissing the Leader of the Islamic Revolution.
For the parliamentary elections, eligible voters from 31 provinces will choose their provincial representatives for the 290-seat Parliament on Friday.
To secure victory and serve as a lawmaker for the four-year term in Parliament, a candidate needs to attain a minimum of 20 percent of the votes cast in his or her constituency.
Some 15,200 candidates have been approved by the Constitutional Council to compete for the seats. Any candidate for elections in Iran must be approved by the council. According to the council’s spokesman Hadi Tahan Nazif, all the candidates should benefit from campaigning facilities with equal and proportionate distribution according to the resources of each election.
On Wednesday, the Constitutional Council sent the names of the 15,200 qualified parliamentary candidates to the Interior Ministry, which holds the elections.
It’s a record number and more than twice the candidates who ran in the 2020 elections, when voter turnout was just over 42%. The candidates include 1,713 women, which is more than double the 819 who ran in 2020. The new Parliament will convene in late May.
The current Parliament has been dominated by conservatives.
Tehran, the capital and the most politically significant city with 30 seats, emerges as the focal point for the main electoral lists. Traditionally, electoral competitions have unfolded between the two primary factions of Reformists and Principlists. But in the upcoming elections, certain factions within the Reformists have stated that they have not introduced a candidate or list due to the performance of the supervisory institution, namely the Constitutional Council. However, a list called “The Voice of the Nation,” led by the former MP Ali Motahari, has introduced prominent figures from past terms, embodying a mix of moderate and Reformist voices critical of the current Parliament and government policies.
During a Tuesday campaign meeting, Motahari emphasized the Voice of the Nation’s pursuit of enhancing the credibility of Parliament through constitutional avenues.
On the other side, Principlists have entered the arena with multiple lists, most notably the Revolution Front, a coalition of the Coalition Council of Islamic Revolution Forces, and another political group known as the Stability Front.
Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf, the current Parliament speaker, and Morteza Aqatehrani, the head of the Central Council of the Stability Front, top the list of this coalition.
In contrast to Motahari, head of the Coalition Council of Islamic Revolution Forces, Gholam-Ali Haddad Adel, stressed that not opposing the government was a red line in selecting individuals for the Revolution Front list.
Regarding the inclusion of Qalibaf on the final list, Haddad-Adel said, “Our red line for selecting candidates is not being against the government because we recognize Mr. Raisi’s government as our own, and supporting the government as our duty.”
Another coalition, named the Unity Council, has presented a 30-member list for Tehran, with former foreign minister Manouchehr Mottaki as its head. Additionally, another Principlist list, known as the People’s Coalition of Islamic Revolution Forces has been introduced for the Tehran elections.
Alongside these coalitions, independent candidates have also entered the campaign, though their chances of success seem limited. These coalitions have also introduced candidates for elections in provinces, with their influence expected to be less pronounced in smaller cities compared to Tehran and major urban centers.