The mass disqualification of the presidential candidates in Iran has become a very serious event for the regime’s officials. Many of them fear the consequences of such an act by the Guardian Council, which is controlled and directed by the regime’s supreme leader Ali Khamenei, and warn about the people’s frustration, despair, and protests.
This time Khamenei decided to sort out the so-called reformist candidates and even people who were accused not to be loyal enough to the supreme leader, which were not even in the reformist wing, showing the critical and fragile situation of the regime, that cannot tolerate anyone anymore, except people like the mass murderer Ebrahim Raisi.
A regime cleric Mohammad Javad Hojjati Kermani, in response to the repression and elimination of the candidates by the Guardian Council, said in a message: “This was a coup de grace to the coffin of the republic of the system. The announcement of mostly one-color candidates for the presidency of 2021 is unbelievable.”
Wwarning about the people’s reaction, he said: “The discouragement and indifference of the whole people, as well as the large number of experts and observers, is very dangerous and is becoming more dangerous every day.”
This person in July 2019 declared the regime’s situation in one sentence and said: “Cancer has taken over the system; from the cultural and moral collapse to the spread of hypocrisy.”
The regime’s Assembly of Teachers and Researchers of Qom Seminary about this situation in a statement on May 27 said:
“The Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Iran introduces the ruling system of Iran after the revolution as a system that emerged from the will of the people, a system whose affairs and mechanisms proceed with the participation of the people in decision-making. Restricting the vote of the people and the republic of the system began when the Guardian Council resorted to approving oversight and made it its dominant practice.
“The indifference of the people has reached the point where in the last few days the spokesman of the Guardian Council has separated the legitimacy of the system from the participation of the people in the elections and has openly stated that the low participation of the people does not affect the legitimacy of the system. The words of the spokesman of the Guardian Council show that the Guardian Council does not recognize the republic and the votes of the people and puts its tastes and desires before the votes of the people.
“Why should the fate of this large country be tied to the tastes of a few people? Given the widespread disqualification of the candidates for the 2021 presidential election, everyone knows that this sham election will be unpopular, with no competition and with minimal participation, and it is the responsibility of the Guardian Council which has lost its legal legitimacy by trying to weaken the republic of the system.”
The state-run ILNA news agency quoting Parvaneh Salahshouri, one of the so-called reformists, on May 27 wrote: “Apparently, people think that whoever becomes president is not important for them, and all presidents have to follow certain orders, so their presence is meaningless.”
Fearing the people’s carelessness which can lead to protests, she added: “When a sense of meaninglessness is formed among the people, they withdraw from participating in the elections, and this withdrawal will gradually lead to social events, which we are more or less witnessing in society.” (ILNA, May 27, 2021)
Even the regime’s former president Mohammad Khatami, who is famous to be one of the heads of the so-called reformist faction but who as president repressed student protests in 1999, frustrated about this event, playing the role of someone who cares about the people, said:
“Real elections are a symbol of systems that have embraced democracy and, in turn, strengthen the golden principle of ‘the people’s right to self-determination.’
“What has happened these days during the introduction of the presidential candidates is the result of an approach, perception and action that has already narrowed the field for the people’s choice, and this time it has appeared more openly and unequivocally.”
Finally warning the regime about the consequences of such a decision, he added: “The republic of the system, which is based on the free vote of the nation and has become less and is fading, and is under more serious threat, and no current, with any affiliation and approach, can and should not be indifferent to this great danger.” (Information base of the head of the reform government, May 27, 2021)
Finally, the excluded candidate Ali Larijani about his exclusion and the dangers facing the entire regime after this event, said the regime will be ripped apart: “We must take internal harmony seriously, else we must rely to an external force. Good governance is impossible without a good economy. People should have a predictable life. The government must speak clearly to the people.” (State-run website Khabar Online, May 27, 2021)
