Reflection on the Expediency Council's Resolution Regarding Military Support for Election Candidates

The Iran newspaper reported on its front page on Sunday about the resolution "prohibiting military support for election candidates," stating: "The Expediency Council has banned the armed forces from entering political and factional classifications in elections." The Etemad newspaper also reported with the headline "Military Entry Prohibited, Political Parties Free to Operate," writing: "The Expediency Council has once again approved new policies for elections. This time, the discussion is about how to enhance the level of political parties and the prohibited entries into elections; policies that are being approved one by one to perhaps finally determine the electoral policies once and for all." The Arman newspaper reported on its front page about the Expediency Council's resolution regarding "the prohibition of military factional activities in elections." Nasser Imani, a principlist political activist, wrote in a note in the Arman newspaper: "Since the beginning of the revolution, the issue of military involvement in electoral discussions has always been debated" and "the fact that a provision has been approved in the Expediency Council regarding this matter reiterates the general law, and this issue has many examples in various countries around the world." However, the Kayhan newspaper published the news of the electoral resolutions of the Expediency Council with the headline "Approval of Three More Articles of General Election Policies in the Expediency Council Meeting," only including at the end of its report the text of the article approved by the Expediency Council regarding "the prohibition of the entry of armed forces individuals, including the army, the IRGC, the police, intelligence and security agencies, and the Basij in political and factional classifications in elections and support for specific candidates." The Resalat newspaper, in its front page on the 26th of Bahman, quoted Nejatollah Ebrahimi, the spokesperson for the Guardian Council, stating: "Those who have endangered the security of the country will not be approved for eligibility." The Shargh newspaper, while publishing a report about "the traces of former government officials in violations," quoted the head of the coordination of the administrative violations investigation committees of the presidential institution stating that from 2008 to the end of December 2014, the General Inspection Organization has sent "777 cases involving 1,060 accused individuals to the [administrative violations investigation committee of the presidential institution], among whom several are former vice presidents, governors, ambassadors, organization heads, and general managers from the ninth and tenth administrations." The Jahan Sanat newspaper reported on "the increase in the consumption of synthetic drugs from half a percent in 2005 to 26 percent in 2013," stating: "Eight people die daily due to drugs, and 70 become addicted." The Javan newspaper, close to the IRGC, in its front page on Sunday titled "Documents of Statoil Bribery in the Hands of Representatives," wrote: "Ahmad Tavakoli detailed the accusations against Mehdi Hashemi in Statoil in a letter to the members of parliament." According to this newspaper, Ahmad Tavakoli wrote in part of this letter: "At the end of the three-year deadline, the Manhattan District Attorney's Office published a statement on November 19, 2009, confirming that Statoil, which was condemned for bribing an Iranian employee, the son of the former president of Iran, had fulfilled all its obligations and for this reason, one of the two fines of 10.5 million was waived, it was exempted from recording negative information, and the three million dollars paid in fines to the Norwegian government was deducted from another fine of 10.5 million, making the final fine 7.5 million, which has been paid." The Shargh newspaper also published parts of Ahmad Tavakoli's letter, stating: "Ahmad Tavakoli responded on Saturday to Gholamali Rajai's note about his recent speech," but while "the noted piece was published in the Shargh newspaper, Tavakoli emphasized this point, providing his response to Fars News Agency and some other news sites instead of the Shargh newspaper." Sadegh Zibakalam stated in an interview with the Arman newspaper: "I have never seen Mr. Tavakoli mention why economic corruption exists in our society." Fariborz Rais Dana also stated in an interview with Arman: "Babak Zanjani was a pawn in the network of power and wealth." The Farhikhtegan newspaper reported from Nasrin Niknam, its correspondent sent to Ahvaz, that with the dust crisis, a market for buying and selling masks has emerged in this city, and "the price of a pack of 50 simple masks is 10,000 tomans," with each mask selling for 500 to 2,000 tomans. Officials at Imam Khomeini Hospital in Ahvaz told the Farhikhtegan newspaper that they cannot announce the number of patients who come to this hospital due to air pollution-related complications, and "providing these statistics is contingent upon receiving a letter and introduction from the security of Jondi Shapur University." Meanwhile, "the removal of the statue of Ferdowsi from a square named after him in the city of Salmas in West Azerbaijan Province has sparked many reactions from citizens," Masoud Hajiali-Lou, the governor of Salmas, told the Law newspaper: "I am not opposed to removing Ferdowsi's name." The reflection on the Expediency Council's resolution regarding "the prohibition of military support for election candidates" was reported by the Iran newspaper on its front page on Sunday, stating: "The Expediency Council has banned the armed forces from entering political and factional classifications in elections." According to this newspaper, on Saturday, the members of the Expediency Council reviewed and drafted other sections of the general election policies, based on which "the prohibition of the entry of armed forces individuals, including the army, the IRGC, the police, intelligence and security agencies, and the Basij in political and factional classifications in elections and support for specific candidates" was approved. The Iran newspaper emphasized that "the prohibition of military personnel from entering party and political activities is one of the fundamental principles" of Ayatollah Khomeini, stating that the founder of the Islamic Republic emphasized that "the principle of entering a party for the army, for the IRGC, for military and law enforcement forces is not permissible, it leads to corruption," and even stated that "those at the head of the army and those at the head of the IRGC are obliged to keep the army and the IRGC and other armed forces away from parties." The Iran newspaper noted that "the constitution also prohibits military personnel from joining political groups," stating: "It seems that the Expediency Council's resolution and its renewed endorsement of the prohibition of armed forces individuals from entering political and factional classifications in elections and supporting specific candidates is an effort aimed at ending the different interpretations of the military's relationship with politics." The Etemad newspaper also reported with the headline "Military Entry Prohibited, Political Parties Free to Operate," stating: "The Expediency Council has once again approved new policies for elections. This time, the discussion is about how to enhance the level of political parties and the prohibited entries into elections; policies that are being approved one by one to perhaps finally determine the electoral policies once and for all." This newspaper noted that "the Expediency Council has also determined the prohibited entries into elections," mentioning that this issue had previously been addressed in laws, but on Saturday, the Expediency Council preferred to include it in the general election policies as well, and accordingly, it was decided that "the entry of armed forces individuals, including the army, the IRGC, the police, intelligence and security agencies, and the Basij into political and factional classifications in elections and support for specific candidates is prohibited." Etemad recalled that "this issue had previously been addressed in electoral laws, but this time the Expediency Council explicitly announced that the entry of military personnel into elections and their support is also prohibited." This newspaper also reported that another article of the general election policies approved on Saturday in the Expediency Council was "the discussion of facilitating and enhancing the level of participation of political parties and organizations," based on which "the level of participation of legal political parties and organizations in elections for introducing qualified individuals in line with the Islamic Republic of Iran and within the framework of legal qualifications, the demand for healthy electoral competition for supported candidates to increase participation and active presence of the people, accountability and rule of law, adherence to the rules and regulations of political activity by members, supporters, and candidates, acceptance of the legal and final results of elections, and support for the formation of gatherings and electoral conferences and appropriate and fair use of public and governmental facilities in advertising by parties should be facilitated and enhanced." Accordingly, it was also decided that "the right of parties to defend the rights of candidates, members, and supporters in legal authorities should be recognized" and "for specialized support and maintaining and enhancing the competencies of representatives during their term, parties should fulfill the necessary responsibilities." According to the Etemad newspaper, based on the Expediency Council's resolution, "the safeguarding of election freedom and health and the right to freely choose individuals and the protection of people's votes as a sacred trust in legislation and strict adherence to neutrality in supervision and execution must be ensured," and in another article of the resolutions from Saturday, it was emphasized that there should be "a thorough examination and verification of the necessary qualifications for candidates within the framework of the law of each election with adequate time provision through inquiries from competent authorities and their responsible and timely responses, and necessary arrangements should be made to minimize the prohibition of the presence of working candidates." Etemad, referring to the continued approval of "general election policies in the Expediency Council," wrote: "There seems to be a serious determination for this work in the Expediency Council, but it is unclear where the enforcement guarantee of these policies lies." Nasser Imani, a principlist political activist, also wrote in a note in the Arman newspaper about the "electoral decisions of the Expediency Council," stating: "One of the articles approved on Saturday in the Expediency Council is about the prohibition of military personnel from entering electoral factions," as "the issue of military involvement in electoral discussions has always been debated since the beginning of the revolution," and even the founder of the Islamic Republic "explicitly declared the prohibition of military personnel from entering electoral discussions." The Arman newspaper wrote: "The fact that a provision has been approved in the Expediency Council regarding this matter reiterates the general law, and this issue has many examples in various countries around the world. However, in Iran, this issue is somewhat more sensitive due to the interpretations regarding whether some individuals with organizational ties to military forces are considered military personnel." Nasser Imani also noted in his note in the Arman newspaper that "perhaps the Expediency Council intends to enter this discussion to address such questions and ambiguities." The author of the Arman newspaper emphasized that "the important point is that the Expediency Council has not yet approved any law regarding this, and it is appropriate for them to express their views on this matter as well. The current electoral process is based on individuals, and parties cannot participate officially in elections, and voters in Iran cannot vote for a party. This is an important point that the Expediency Council should consider and facilitate the entry of parties into elections."