Ashraf Boroujerdi: We Have Candidates Among Conservatives 'United with Reforms'

Ashraf Boroujerdi, a reformist activist, stated that this movement has candidates among conservatives who are 'united with reforms' for the parliamentary elections. According to a report on Thursday (January 21), Boroujerdi emphasized that Ali Larijani's cooperation during the JCPOA negotiations was a 'green light' to the Reformist Policy Council, which will select 30 candidates from the electoral list of 'rational conservatives who are reformist.' She made these remarks at a brainstorming session of the Reformist Policy Council in Qom. Boroujerdi added that the reformist movement has many 'hidden candidates among electoral applicants' and that the 'Moderation Government' will openly pursue the goals of reformists in the next term. She mentioned that the widespread disqualification of reformist forces by the Reformist Policy Council was 'predicted,' which is why the decision was made for the 'maximum presence of reformist candidates at three levels: known, intermediate, and unknown, along with conservatives united with reforms.' She explained that this decision was made to utilize 'hidden layers' in case the 'known layers' are disqualified, adding that 'the conservative forces united with us will also bring us closer to our goal.' Boroujerdi did not provide more names or details about these conservative forces 'united' with reforms, marking the first time such a term has been introduced. She stated that reformists 'today are even seeking rational conservatives to achieve a parliament aligned with their policymaking body.' The Deputy Minister of Interior for Women's Affairs in Mohammad Khatami's government added that due to this strategy, reformists will 'certainly' win in the tenth parliamentary elections. Boroujerdi also described Larijani's cooperation with Hassan Rouhani's government during the JCPOA as a 'green light' from him to the Reformist Policy Council, without further explanation on why this cooperation was a 'green light' for reformists. Nonetheless, she mentioned, 'We will choose 30 people from the list of rational conservatives who are reformist,' and that provinces and counties without reformist candidates should 'vote for the opposing point against the main conservative players.' Boroujerdi's statements come at a time when the Guardian Council has disqualified most reformist candidates for the parliamentary elections. In this election cycle, in addition to disqualifications, the Guardian Council has prevented many candidates from participating in the electoral competitions through the amendment of 'non-qualification.' Previously, several close associates of Ali Khamenei and hardline conservatives had repeatedly warned about reformists' efforts to send their forces to the parliament. Ahmad Jannati, the Secretary of the Guardian Council, also expressed dissatisfaction with the number of candidates participating in the tenth parliamentary elections, deeming it 'suspicious.' Despite Ali Khamenei's implicit support for the Guardian Council's actions regarding disqualifications, Hassan Rouhani today questioned the holding of elections without the presence of political rivals and various factions. Rouhani, who had previously stated that he would use all his powers to address the issue of disqualifications, mentioned that he had tasked his first vice president and the ministers of intelligence and interior with negotiating this matter with the Guardian Council.