Not many years ago, the days before the elections felt like a moment of opening in Iran. While all candidates passed through the spectrum of the Guardian Council (even today), and only those within the system (nizam) could participate, there was the idea that there was at least some degree of “democratic openness.” At least you could choose between those who called for reforms and faced the most conservative and radical. This illusion has ceased to exist.
For further demonstration, the elections taking place today. Of the 15,200 candidates for the parliamentary elections, in which 290 seats will be elected, there are only 30 candidates from the reformist camp. It is true that this has lost the popularity of yesteryear and that many names gave up presenting their candidacy, but this reality does not overshadow the role of the Council of Guardians – a committee of 12 jurists who are experts in Islam who have the task of studying Islamic credentials. and patriots of each candidate–, which has been blocking this sector's access to the elections for years.
In the 2021 presidential elections, no candidate from that current was approved, including the then vice president. And for these elections, former president Hasan Rohani, who has always identified himself as a moderate, also did not receive authorization to run for the Council of Experts, a conclave of 88 clerics whose new members are also elected today. After several requests from Rohani, no response has been given to his complaints. With this decision, the Guardian Council takes away the possibility of participating in the election of the new supreme leader when Ali Khamenei, 84, dies.
“It's as if there were only bananas in a bazaar and the seller asks what I want: Bananas or apples? This is a farce,” Mustafa, 26, said yesterday. He is not going to vote, like many others consulted in recent days in different parts of Tehran. "So that? “Elections are obsolete,” said this man who sells cell phone cases in the bazaar, yesterday a hive of people making purchases prior to Ramadan, but especially for Noruz, or Persian New Year, which is celebrated on March 21. .
“No choice makes any difference. They never help people, they don't provide assistance, prices go up, inflation goes up. Whoever comes to Parliament will remain the same, it doesn't matter," explained Parsa, 25, who is also not going to vote. Two polls published in recent days predicted that participation will be at most 41.5%. The normal rate in the first decades of the revolution was 60% or more. What is worrying for the system, which has always wanted to sell the elections as an act of approval towards the Islamic Republic, is that it is a survey carried out by public television, famous for its bias when it comes to showing the Iranian reality.
In an attempt to turn the tables, Ayatollah Khamenei has tried to use the nationalist card again. “Those who love their country, their people and their security must know that they will all suffer from a weak election,” the supreme leader or rahbar said last Wednesday. His message was immediately received by his followers, who launched campaigns under this motto.
“This election is considered a symbol of national participation of the Iranian people, and I consider myself obliged to participate because the future is built with our votes,” said Abas Jalili, a 46-year-old electrical engineer who came forward to write a message of support for the Islamic Republic in a book that some militants of the nizam enabled in Valiasr Square in Tehran.
This is the same place that was one of the main scenes of the protests that shook Iran in 2022. Hours after learning of the death of Mahsa Amini, thousands of young people began to protest in this place where the security forces began a repression that lasted months. More than 500 people lost their lives, eight were executed and around 22,000 have been imprisoned. There are dozens of people who lost at least one eye as a result of the violent response and hundreds of students sanctioned at universities.
“They have no shame. They kill us and persecute us, and now they want us to participate in the elections,” explained Shirin, a 30-year-old architect. Like many women, she has since removed her veil and walks with her hair open, an act the regime appears to approve of only if it is done to vote. This is what the spokesperson for the Guardian Council stated recently: “No law has denied the right to vote, and not even a court can take it away.”
Other problems are added that affect beyond those who fight for greater freedoms, especially for women. Year after year, Iranians feel that their purchasing power is lower, and this is especially evident among young people, among whom unemployment rates skyrocket: almost 50% for women and 24% for men.
Signatures continue to be collected in Valiasr Square, but most passers-by pass by. Like Rahman, 21 years old. “They are just misleading us, and I will not vote.”
