The eleventh parliamentary elections in Iran in 2020

By: Hassan.Mahmoudi

The eleventh parliamentary elections in Iran were held on February 21, 2020. The number of seats in the 11th parliament is 290.

Candidates are screened and then approved or rejected by the Assembly of Experts that its members are appointed by Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.

According to the Iranian constitution, three branches of government are under the supervision of the supreme leader. The Guardian Council, which is responsible for interpreting the constitution, in cases where the decisions of other bodies contradict the decisions of the leader’s affiliated institutions, considers them illegal because of their inconsistency with the “supreme leader’s authority.”

Thus, elections become institutionalized into appointments by the Supreme Leader. In Iran, the possibility of any free election is nothing but a myth. The question is now whether Khamenei, who begs the people to vote, does value the members of parliaments? Or has other intentions? Khamenei does not value the members of parliament at all! In his latest speech, he put the members of parliament appointed in the previous round down he said that in recent years some members of parliament become “America’s servants and enemies of Iran. »

He accused his own appointees of implementing the enemy plan. In one instance on Saturday, November 17, two days after the execution of his plan to raise gas prices and following widespread protests across the country, MPs presented a plan to abolish or moderate gasoline price hike, but Khamenei on Sunday, November 23. “By sending a note addressed to the Speaker of the parliament, he warned the MPs against it. »

In addition, the decisions of the House of Representatives must be approved by the Guardian Council, and if the Guardian Council disagrees and the House insists on its resolution, it will be the Expediency Council that decides on the House’s resolution.

Ali Khamenei, the president and Friday prayers’ speakers of towns and villages have been emphasizing the importance of participating in an election for weeks now, as always, and this time more than ever. But according to a poll conducted by the Iranian Student Statistics Center in January, 79% of Tehran’s population will not participate in this election.

In his latest speech, Khamenei said, “Islamic Republic’s regional friends”( he meant Hezbollah In Lebanon and Hashd-Alshabi in Iraq and other proxy groups) are anxiously awaiting the turnout, but he has sent them a message saying; “do not worry because this nation knows what to do.” Indeed, the Iranian people know what to do!

Golrokh Irani and Soheil Arabi are among other political prisoners who have boycotted the election in separate statements.

Sunday, February 16, 2020 students of Tehran’s Amir Kabir University protested and were chanting, “People are in poverty, they are thinking of voting”, “No ballot box, no vote, the boycott of elections”. They also had a handwritten placard saying, “Vote, absolutely Not”. The protesters were attacked by plain cloth agents and university guards.

In a statement, 12 imprisoned female civil and political activists pointed to the need to boycott the parliamentary elections, saying, “This system and its elections are only riding on the blood of millions of innocent youth.” “Anyone who goes to the ballot box will have his/her fingerprint on the triggers of guns that fired at the revolutionary youth and is a sign of confirmation of the ruling system and its crimes.”

A group of Sunni freedom-seeking youths in Talesh have also stated that a regime that for the past 40 years put religious and ethnic minorities at a disadvantage and committed atrocities that no other criminals in history compare to it, should be boycotted.

On Friday, February 14, US State Department Special Representative for Iran Brian Hooke called the Iranian election a purely demonstrative and pre-determined move. He said”: “Clerics determine the winners and losers before the vote is cast. The regime’s officials are now doing their best to keep their tyrannical regime’s appearance legitimate in public opinion. »

The state newspaper Javan wrote: “Unfortunately, because of the things that have happened in the country, especially the November events, there has been a great deal of frustration in society and this has caused many people to not care for elections.”

Election crises are now sweeping across society and engulfed the top of the regime, with Rouhani’s supporters threatening that he would resign.