Analysis by PMOI/MEK
Iran, May 6, 2021—These days, the ruling regime in Iran is terrified its upcoming election and its potential outcome. In none of the previous elections were the results a reflection of the Iranian people’s desires. The regime has a long history of tampering votes and engineering the results to elect the candidate that best fits its goals. But today, the regime’s main worry is a popular boycott of the elections by the Iranian people. State media, experts, and government analysts are warning about the public’s reaction to the elections.
What government experts and analysts are constantly emphasizing is that the Islamic Republic is now reaping the whirlwind of the winds it sowed for 42 years.
The suggestions state media offer to escape the looming election boycott by the people shows the regime’s absolute desperation.
An example of this is given by the state-run Mostaghel daily on April 28, where it quoted Hamid Reza Taraghi, a regime-linked politician, as suggesting an "economic opening at the cusp of the elections."
Less than a month and half before the regime's presidential election, the proposal looks more like a joke for a government that is facing nearly 50-percent inflation.
The socio-political context of the boycott of the forthcoming elections is so obvious that regime leaders are describing it as a tsunami.
"The dimensions of the election waves will soon become clear to everyone. Let us all avoid a political tsunami," wrote Abbass Abdi, the editor in chief of Etemad daily, on April 28.
To illustrate the "political tsunami" of the forthcoming election boycott, he likens the size of the boycott to violent waves that continuously gain momentum and become more destructive.
"The main function of the elections is like a still basin under the dams, where the overflowing water from the dam, which has a lot of destructive power, enters this still basin and its destructive energy is consumed. The greater the inflow of water (political tensions) behind the political dam (society) and the dam reaches the overflow stage (election day), and the smaller the power and size of the still basin (the reality of the election), the greater the overflow rate and destructive power and it will increase," Abdi added.
In expressing the situation of the Iranian society after the November 2019 uprising, we have always said that Iran has become like a bomb under the feet of the regime. That uprising was a confrontation with the dictatorship’ policies and the regime. The interconnected and domino-like effects are now advancing like an army of crises toward election day. These challenges and tensions are aligned and show a fact that cannot be denied.
As Abdi describes it: "There are tensions in Iranian politics today; tensions and dissatisfaction between the people and the government, within the government, between political parties and civic institutions are all high and intense. The events of 2017 and 2019, the crash of a Ukrainian plane, the extremely tense situation of stockholders, high inflation, Covid-19 outbreak, sanctions and tensions in foreign relations, internal tensions, sharp internal differences between hardliners and reformists, lack of confidence in the general performance of power and… These gaps and tensions will show themselves during the upcoming elections."
The regime has no way to respond to internal and external tensions and must pursue a policy of contraction. In the short time remaining before the elections, the regime will have to deal with crisis after crisis.
