Protest by Four Governors Against Widespread Disqualification of Parliamentary Candidates

The disqualification of candidates for the tenth parliamentary elections by the election supervisory boards has faced reactions from the governors of Tehran, Khuzestan, Ilam, and Hormozgan. The Guardian Council announced on Saturday evening, January 26, that 55% of the candidates for the tenth parliamentary elections had been disqualified or not confirmed by the supervisory boards, with the list of these individuals published today in some news agencies. Following the publication of the initial list of disqualified candidates, Hossein Hashemi, the governor of Tehran, stated that government officials 'did not expect this number of disqualifications.' Hashemi mentioned that the Ministry of Interior has begun efforts to negotiate with the Guardian Council to confirm candidates who 'have the necessary qualifications but have not been recognized by the supervisory boards.' Abdolhasan Moqtadaei, the governor of Khuzestan, reacted strongly to the disqualifications, stating, 'No one has the right to engineer elections, and unjust and illogical disqualifications are no different from ballot box fraud.' Moqtadaei made this statement at a meeting of the Khuzestan election headquarters and urged governors to 'protest against illogical decisions and candidates who are unjustly disqualified.' This official called for some changes in the supervisory boards affiliated with the Guardian Council and stated, 'In our country, only the leadership can make decisions outside the law.' Abdolhasan Moqtadaei's resignation from his position in protest against the disqualifications was among the news published today, which was denied by the public relations office of the Khuzestan governorate. According to the 'Ilam Bidar' website, Mohammad Reza Morvarid, the governor of Ilam, also reacted to the disqualifications, saying, 'What does it mean that 50 people [in the province] are disqualified? It means we [the supervisory board] are a few people deciding for the people.' Morvarid testified that some of the disqualified candidates are 'prayer leaders' and that 'a person's reputation is not so easily tarnished by these discussions.' He added, 'The disqualified candidates will certainly complain and protest, but this style is not correct; it means we know everything ourselves and do not pay attention to others and their thoughts.' Jassem Jadari, the governor of Hormozgan, is another government official who reacted to these disqualifications, stating, 'We did not expect such treatment, and one cannot help the country's development with such a narrow-minded perspective.' According to ISNA, Jadari added, 'The severity of the widespread disqualification decision is not in the country's interest and does not align with the slogan of maximum participation.' He stated, 'This process indicates the imposition of a particular thought,' and 'Elections are not a game for one faction and thought competing with themselves.' The executive election boards, which are affiliated with the Ministry of Interior, have always had disagreements with the supervisory boards affiliated with the Guardian Council regarding the confirmation of election candidates. In the tenth parliamentary elections, the executive boards only disqualified 7% of the candidates, which faced a reaction from the Guardian Council. Ahmad Jannati, the secretary of the Guardian Council, accused the executive boards of having 'quickly reopened the candidate qualification review.'