By Pooya Stone
On 21st February 2020, the Iranian regime will be holding its parliamentary elections. It is fast becoming one of the biggest crises that it has faced in recent times.
The whole election process in Iran is laughable. It can only be described as a shambles. It is centered around the principle of velayat-e Faqih, in other words, the absolute rule of the country’s Supreme Leader.
There is no hope of being a candidate if you do not adhere to this dictatorial principle. You will be immediately disqualified by the powerful Guardian Council that screens every hopeful. There is a substantial list of requirements and it is believed that the Guardian Council eliminates more than three-quarters of all candidates.
Six of the 12 members of the Guardian Council were appointed by the Supreme Leader. The other six were appointed by the judiciary chief (who was appointed by the Supreme Leader!). The Guardian Council is essentially the Supreme Leader’s way of appointing leaders and officials that would not oppose him.
However, this leads to massive power struggles between the different factions of the regime. Historically, the opposing factions have been able to hide their differences when it comes to the public eye. Yet, for the past few years, the infighting has become so intense that it has spilled over into the public domain.
It is for this reason that the Supreme Leader is taking the opportunity of the parliamentary elections to wipe up as much of his opposition as he can. This past year has been extremely difficult for the regرme, with two significant uprisings that have given the Supreme Leader a glimpse of the end that is insight.
State-run media is reporting that the candidates for the upcoming elections have been whittled down to candidates mainly from Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s faction, with many rivals being eliminated earlier. It is clear that the Supreme Leader’s aim is to have those aligned with him controlling parliament.
Even the country’s current president has so much as said that the election process in Iran is a farce. He described it as a “selection process” and “ceremonial”. Those in the opposite faction have retorted by reminding him that it was this process that got him elected in the first place. Not that that changes President Rouhani’s argument.
Summing the whole process up, the head of Iran’s judiciary said it all when he said that anyone opposed to the electoral process in Iran is “weakening” the system and will be considered an “enemy”.
The people of Iran have been forgotten by the regime. Their voice counts for nothing and they have never experienced any kind of democracy under the current regime. They want democracy more than anything and they know it is not possible with the mullahs in power.
Mrs. Rajavi, president-elect of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) highlights that the people’s true vote has been seen via the latest uprisings in which they have been calling for the collapse of the velayat-e faqih system and death to the Supreme Leader.
