Cultural Deputy of the IRGC: Many Candidates Will Definitely Drop Out in the Elections

The cultural deputy of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) reacted to the approval of qualifications for about 11,000 candidates out of 12,000 candidates for the Islamic Consultative Assembly elections by the executive boards affiliated with the Ministry of Interior, accusing these boards of not performing their duties "correctly" and stating that the Guardian Council must compensate for their "shortcomings." According to Fars News Agency, Mohammad Hossein Najat stated on Thursday, January 24, that the executive boards "did not perform their duties correctly" and did not act on inquiries made from "five reference agencies." He added, "Now the Guardian Council has to compensate for the shortcomings of the executive boards, and many individuals will definitely drop out." According to Hossein Ali Amiri, the spokesman for the Iranian Ministry of Interior, out of 12,123 candidates for the parliamentary elections, 10,954 candidates have been "qualified" and 814 candidates have been "disqualified." ISNA reported that on Thursday, he announced that 580 individuals withdrew during the registration period and 296 individuals withdrew during the qualification review. Amiri stated that Tehran and Isfahan provinces, which had the highest number of registered candidates, also accounted for the highest number of "disqualified candidates." The qualifications of candidates for the parliamentary elections will be reviewed again by the Guardian Council after being approved or rejected by the executive boards. Ahmad Jannati, the Secretary of the Guardian Council, accused the executive boards on January 14 of "quickly dismissing the qualification review of candidates and stating that someone who has no record in the information, police, and judiciary should be confirmed as having no record." In recent days, several Friday prayer leaders and conservative media have criticized the actions of the executive boards in approving a large number of candidates. Tasnim News Agency reported on January 21, citing an "informed source in one of the inquiry references" whose name was not mentioned, that "despite the negative response of this agency to the inquiries about some registrants, they were approved by the executive boards." This news agency, close to the IRGC, claimed that among the approved candidates, there are "individuals with some negative backgrounds including Israeli citizenship of spouses, dual citizenship, illegal abortion, bribery, membership in certain anti-revolutionary groups, participation in murder, actions against national security, adultery, incest, street fighting, public disorder, etc." The prosecution, Ministry of Intelligence, Civil Registration, and Law Enforcement are referred to as the "four supervisory agencies." According to the parliamentary election law, the Ministry of Interior and the Guardian Council are required to send the list of election candidates for "qualification review" as mentioned in the parliamentary election law to these agencies. However, members of the Guardian Council have repeatedly stated that the responses to inquiries from these agencies are not the only criterion for reviewing candidates' qualifications. For instance, Najatollah Ebrahimian, the spokesman for the Guardian Council, stated on November 25 that responding to inquiries about the "reputation or good reputation" and commitment of election candidates to "Sharia and the Constitution" is not among the duties of the "four supervisory agencies" and that local investigations are necessary for determining candidates' qualifications. Following the candidacy of reformists for the parliamentary elections and also the candidacy of Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, the head of the Expediency Discernment Council, and individuals close to him in the Assembly of Experts elections, some close to the Iranian leader and conservatives, including several Friday prayer leaders, have asked the Guardian Council to disqualify the protesters of the 2009 presidential election and their supporters. Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani's qualifications were disqualified in the 2013 presidential election. Rafsanjani stated that those disqualified should not be upset. Meanwhile, Rafsanjani said on Wednesday, "Some may be disqualified, and if the registrations and legal follow-ups were for the sake of God and fulfilling a duty, they should not be upset but should keep their vigilance and logic, leaving the final opinion to God and the people, which history, especially in recent years, has proven that God never allows the rights of the oppressed to be trampled." He emphasized, "We should not allow the atmosphere that can hold a vibrant election to turn into a space of conflict and enmity." Mohammad Reza Khatami, the deputy speaker of the sixth parliament, predicted that due to the type of qualifications, "a large portion of reformist candidates" will face difficulties entering the elections. However, Abdollah Nouri, the Minister of Interior in Mohammad Khatami's first government, has urged reformists not to "retreat" from participating in the upcoming elections even if some of them are disqualified and to participate in the elections with those who are approved. Concerns of reformists regarding disqualifications by the Guardian Council come at a time when some conservative representatives in parliament have reported being disqualified by the executive boards. Meanwhile, the spokesman for the Ministry of Interior stated on Thursday without detailing that the qualifications of several current representatives from Tehran and other provinces have not been "approved." Hamid Rasayi, a member of the Steadfast Front in parliament, reported that his and Mehdi Koochakzadeh's qualifications for the tenth parliamentary elections have been rejected. While Rasayi has stated that the reasons for his disqualification are "political," Mohammad Ashrafi Isfahani, the head of the initial committee for administrative violations at the Presidential Institution, had reported last year that Rasayi was banned from government services. Meanwhile, Mahmoud Alizadeh Tabatabai, the lawyer for Mehdi Hashemi, has also reported on Rasayi's "financial corruption" cases in the Special Clerical Court. Hamid Rasayi was previously the director of culture and guidance in Qom province before being elected to parliament.