Iran’s regime continues its disgraceful spectacle for its sham parliamentary elections. This charade is so embarrassing that the regime’s president, who is supposed to be the country’s chief executive and traditionally should have been a candidate from the capital, has become a candidate from South Khorasan province (not even from Khorasan Razavi). At the same time, the regime has eliminated all his competitors so that he can enter the Assembly of Experts without any opposition.
There are more disgraceful aspects to this political masquerade. On January 29, the state-run Ham-Mihan newspaper reported some scandals and “statistical wonders” from the sham elections, shedding light on some of the regime’s tricks:
– This is the “least competitive” round of elections for the Assembly of Experts
– “In seven provinces, including Alborz, South Khorasan, Zanjan, Semnan, Fars, Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad, and Lorestan, there is no competition.”
– “In Shiraz, where there are five seats for competition, but only 4 candidates have been qualified”
– “In Zanjan, there is one seat for competition, but no one has been qualified”
– The situation in the other seven provinces is also uncertain, and “the number of non-competitive constituencies is likely to increase.”
The regime has reached a point that it cannot tolerate any dissenting voice and is no longer seeking electoral prosperity. Regime supreme leader Ali Khamenei knows that his regime is in critical conditions, and even the smallest crack or opposition within his ruling apparatus could spark a fire. He is highly aware that in the current crisis, his first mistake could be his last. As a result, he does not engage in pleasantries with anyone and is willing to silence even figures like Mostafa Pourmohammadi, a key figure in the 1988 massacre of political prisoners, to consolidate his oppressive system.
The regime has also disqualified former president Hassan Rouhani, who was one of the leading figures of the so-called reformist faction. They admit that disqualifications were not unexpected, but they did not anticipate such an intensity and extent of disqualification.
The people’s opinion and vote
In a clerical dictatorship where purges, widespread fraud, vote-buying, ballot selling, and more fraudulent activities determine who will sit on the seat of power, it is the rebellious youth in the streets of Iran who, in the darkness of the night, cast their votes with the loudest voice, ensuring that its echo reaches every corner of the city, in defiance of the oppressive centers such as the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and the Basij.
In this regime, “qualification” is determined by the Guardian Council. But among the people of Iran, “qualification” is determined by “resistance” and “struggle” against the tyrannical regime.
And while the regime handpicks legislators from among its criminal, it is ultimately these rebellious youth who will have the final say on the future of the country and their own destiny.
While these days the regime is preoccupied with “election engineering” at any cost to overcome the “election bottleneck,” the people of Iran are seeking a way to free themselves from this system. That is why the ranks of the rebellious youth are expanding every day.
The people of Iran, in their tireless effort for achieving freedom, have not hesitated to pay any price. With slogans such as “Death to the mullahs’ rule,” “Death to the dictator,” and “Death to Khamenei,” they have engaged in a mass and widespread resistance against the regime. It is the same resistance that shouts the central slogan of the day: “There is no room for elections in this regime. It is time for a revolution.”