Alviyari's Explicit Opposition to Expanding Guardian Council Oversight to Councils

The head of the Supreme Council of Provinces in Iran states that some "supervisory bodies" want to impose "restrictions" on city and village councils, but he considers the Guardian Council's "supervisory oversight" for councils to be dangerous. Morteza Alviyari explicitly stated at the ninth meeting of the Supreme Council of Provinces in front of reporters: "I oppose the principle of supervisory oversight because I find this issue contrary to the spirit of the Constitution, and this matter is particularly relevant in council elections." This issue seems to have arisen following the exposure of a sexual scandal in the Babol City Council and the announcement of economic violations in several city and village councils across Iran, prompting some conservatives and Hezbollah activists in cyberspace to emphasize the necessity of expanding supervisory oversight to city and village council elections. They believe that the main cause of "corruption" in councils is the lack of supervisory oversight and the entry of individuals into these councils without the Guardian Council's oversight. The head of the Supreme Council of Provinces referred to this criticism, stating: "These days, due to accusations related to councils, it has been said that in council elections, parliamentary oversight should be removed and entrusted to the Guardian Council." Mr. Alviyari further defended the performance of councils, noting that "the total number of those arrested from councils does not reach the number of fingers on a hand and cannot be compared with other bodies; for example, the number of defrocked clerics cannot be compared with the entire clergy." He explicitly opposed the expansion of supervisory oversight to councils, stating: "Supervisory oversight poses a danger to the family of councils and urban management, and the vetting of individuals who wish to be elected for city management is unjustifiable." He also criticized the perception that "the parliament and government see councils as rivals and that some supervisory bodies seem to want to impose restrictions on councils." Mr. Alviyari also mentioned that only "two councils" have been dissolved across the country. This comes as Salman Samani, the spokesperson for the Ministry of Interior, stated in an interview with ILNA that during Hassan Rouhani's administrations alone, eight city councils were "dissolved" and the membership of 283 council members across the country was revoked. Unlike presidential and parliamentary elections, where the Guardian Council determines the final qualifications of candidates, the qualification review for city and village council candidates is not under the jurisdiction of this body. The approval of candidates for council elections is the responsibility of a central supervisory board composed of five members, and the supervisory board for each province is composed of three members. According to the law, the proper and accurate oversight during the six stages of elections (registration, qualification review, campaigning, holding elections, voting, and confirming the accuracy of city and village Islamic council elections) is the responsibility of supervisory boards. However, the qualification review of council candidates in these elections has always faced criticism and widespread dissatisfaction, leading some conservatives to believe that the remedy lies in the Guardian Council's supervisory oversight. In this context, Ahmad Jannati, the Secretary of the Guardian Council, stated in 2016: "Unfortunately, oversight in city council elections lacks accountability and is a disaster because qualifications are not adequately reviewed, and 400,000 people enter the elections (for city councils) without proper assessment of their backgrounds and conditions." Despite Mr. Jannati's statements, Abbas Ali Kadkhodai, the spokesperson for the Guardian Council, in his last press conference in 2016, said: "The Guardian Council will not intervene in council elections; the Constitution does not grant such authority to the Guardian Council. The Guardian Council has no claim, opportunity, or necessary resources regarding oversight of council elections."