Reformists to Participate in Parliamentary Elections Centered Around Mohammad Khatami

The former Secretary General of the Participation Front and a member of the Mojahedin of the Islamic Revolution announced that coordination among reformist groups for participation in the parliamentary elections will be centered around Mohammad Khatami, the former President of Iran. According to ILNA, Feyzollah Arab-Sorkhi, a member of the Mojahedin of the Islamic Revolution, stated on Saturday, November 13, that reformists will participate in the parliamentary elections with Khatami at the center, and Khatami will make every effort to create cohesion, unity, and coordination among reformists. Meanwhile, Mohammad Reza Khatami, the former Secretary General of the Participation Front, emphasized that reformist parties, groups, and figures have gathered around Khatami. He predicted that if reformists enter the parliamentary elections 'cohesively and united', even if their 'first-tier' candidates are disqualified, they can still gather a high percentage of the people's votes. According to Khatami, a joint list of reformists will be prepared with the help of reformists from localities, and in each locality, reformist activists will decide who to select as their representative. The former Secretary General of the Participation Front also commented on the presence of women and youth in electoral lists, stating: 'The upcoming elections are not supposed to be what we want, but the next parliament must play the role of a savior for the country.' He added: 'First and foremost, the parliament must be filled with wise and prudent representatives, and secondly, the gender and age composition will be important, and if we conclude that women and youth will have good electoral appeal, we will certainly welcome this matter.' Activities of reformist groups to participate in the parliamentary elections have begun several months ago. Meanwhile, Iranian media reported on Sunday, November 8, that Mohammad Reza Aref, Khatami's first vice president during his presidency, has been elected as the head of the 'Electoral Policy Council of Reformists'. The formation of this council comes as the Coordination Council of the Reform Front previously existed for coordinating reformist groups. Additionally, Ali Mohammad Gharibani, the rotating head of the Coordination Council of the Reform Front, stated in October that this council has formed the 'Supreme Electoral Policy Council of Reformists', which consists of 21 members from the Coordination Council of the Reform Front, 11 members from the Advisory Committee, and several secretaries of newly established parties. The reformists' efforts to participate in the parliamentary elections come at a time when some principlists and members of the Guardian Council have repeatedly spoken about disqualifying reformists and protesters from the 2009 presidential election. Meanwhile, Ali Saeedi, representative of the Supreme Leader in the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, stated on Tuesday, June 9, that changing the principlist parliament into 'another parliament' is a 'threat' to what he calls 'the interests of the system' and also to the 'ideals' of Ayatollah Khomeini and Ayatollah Khamenei. In contrast, Hassan Rouhani, the President of Iran, stated on Wednesday, August 19, that the Guardian Council is 'an observer, not an executor' and added: 'The one who should say whether a person is qualified to participate in the elections or not is the executive committee.' These remarks provoked a strong reaction from several appointees of the Supreme Leader, including the head of the judiciary, commanders of the Revolutionary Guards, and Friday prayer leaders. Joint meetings of Mohammad Yazdi, Mohammad Ali Mohammadi Kermani, and Mohammad Taghi Mesbah Yazdi, principlist groups that hold the majority in the ninth parliament, have also been held since last year to prepare for the parliamentary elections. Among these were meetings titled 'Principlist Convergence' managed by Reza Taqvi, head of the Policy Council of Friday Prayer Leaders. Taqvi stated on September 2, 2014, that reports related to the principlist cooperation council meetings are sent to Ayatollah Mohammad Yazdi, the secretary of the Society of Teachers of Qom Seminary. Additionally, according to Tasnim News Agency, Lotfollah Forouzandeh, spokesman for the Martyrs' Society, stated on Saturday that a joint meeting of Mohammad Yazdi, secretary general of the Society of Teachers of Qom Seminary, Mohammad Ali Mohammadi Kermani, secretary general of the Combatant Clergy Association, and Mohammad Taghi Mesbah Yazdi was held. Iranian media refer to Mesbah Yazdi as the 'spiritual father of the Steadfast Front'. This group criticizes the management of Ali Larijani, the Speaker of the Parliament, and presented a separate list from the principlist groups in the ninth parliamentary elections. In addition to the Steadfast Front, some members of the United Front, which consists of several ministers from Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's government, have also announced their participation in the parliamentary elections. Kamran Daneshjoo, Minister of Science, Mohammad Abbasi, Minister of Cooperatives, Hamid Reza Hajibabaei, Minister of Education, and Mohammad Hosseini, Minister of Culture and Islamic Guidance in Ahmadinejad's government, are among the members of the United Front. In the 2013 presidential election, Ayatollah Mahdavi Kani's efforts to introduce a single principlist candidate did not succeed. Meanwhile, Mostafa Mirloohi, head of Ayatollah Mahdavi Kani's office, expressed dissatisfaction with the failure of the principlists' coalition in the elections, stating that 'Ali Akbar Velayati, one of the members of the 1+2 coalition, even did not answer a phone call from Mahdavi Kani's office.' In this context, details of the 'Transparency of Financial Resources and Election Expenses' bill have been discussed, with Mohammad Reza Aref becoming the head of the reformists' electoral council, estimating the cost of holding elections at '160 billion tomans'.