Rouhani Calls for Transparency and Non-Interference by Officials in Parliamentary Elections

The President of Iran warned officials against supporting candidates in the upcoming elections and called for the use of "transparent plastic ballot boxes" to prevent claims that "one-third" of the boxes are pre-filled. According to the state news agency IRNA, Hassan Rouhani on Saturday, June 9, also requested that if possible, cameras and screens be installed at vote counting locations so that "everyone can observe the counting of votes." Rouhani stated, "The ballot box must be a plastic and transparent one so that everyone can see the votes inside from afar... and tomorrow they should not falsely claim that this box was one-third full." He added, "Why is the ballot box wrapped in fabric to allow accusations? This behavior must be abandoned to prevent accusations against the system." The Guardian Council of Iran has set March 7, 2016, as the date for the upcoming elections for the Islamic Consultative Assembly and the Assembly of Experts. Rouhani's recommendation for using "transparent plastic boxes" comes amid claims by some critics of the 2009 presidential election that some ballot boxes were pre-filled before the election. Rouhani continued, "Let it not be heard in a county that at one time the government, the IRGC, the army, the state media, the governor, the mayor, and the office of the Friday prayer leader are supporters of this or that candidate, as this is poison for the elections." He added, "All responsible officials, all armed and unarmed powers, and senior officials of the country whose responsibilities transcend party and faction should not do anything that leads to accusations against them." In recent months, the Expediency Discernment Council of Iran has prohibited the involvement of armed forces and intelligence and security agencies in "political and factional classifications in elections and supporting specific candidates" as well as "interference by the three branches of government in elections." These resolutions must also be approved by Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the leader of the Islamic Republic. This resolution by the Expediency Council comes at a time when in previous years, some political factions in Iran, especially those protesting the results of the 2009 election, have repeatedly claimed that the IRGC interfered in elections. Ali Saidi, the representative of the Supreme Leader in the IRGC, stated on Tuesday, January 8, 2013, that "the inherent duty of the IRGC is to logically and reasonably engineer elections." These remarks led to significant protests, including from Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the then-president of Iran, who said on Wednesday, January 9, 2013, "Anyone who wants to manage the people will be managed by the people." In another part of his remarks, the President of Iran emphasized that the qualifications of candidates for elections should be examined based on "legal references" and added, "We cannot pay attention to rumors and accusations in elections at all." He stressed, "Accusations must be discussed in a competent court, and the accused and their lawyer must defend themselves before voting; therefore, we are not judges and do not have a qualification assessor with us to assess qualifications." Rouhani also urged governors, provincial governors, and the Ministry of Interior not to be "intimidated" by any party, group, faction, or pressure during the elections and not to be "fascinated" by any current. The final approval of candidates for the Islamic Consultative Assembly, the Assembly of Experts, and the presidency is the responsibility of the Guardian Council, and in previous periods, several candidates critical of the Islamic Republic and some reformist candidates have been disqualified. "No faction in the country can be eliminated," Rouhani said in his remarks on Saturday. "It should not be said that this gentleman should not speak in this city? So many labels are placed that I do not know where these labels are produced...." He emphasized, "No faction in the country can be eliminated, neither those on this side dream, nor those on that side, nor those in the middle... factions have a historical, ideological, religious, and scientific root." This statement by Rouhani comes at a time when since the beginning of his government, several political reformist gatherings and speeches by critical figures have been canceled due to opposition and threats from pressure groups. For instance, in recent weeks, speeches by Hossein Marashi and Ebrahim Amin, two reformist figures in Shiraz, as well as speeches by Ali Motahari and Ahmad Tavakoli, two members of parliament, and Ebrahim Asgarzadeh and Najafgholi Habibi, two reformist figures in Karaj, have been canceled. "Who has the right to speak disrespectfully about the commander of the diplomatic front?!" The President of Iran, in another part of his remarks, stated that some do not want the people's happiness and fear the smiles of the people, adding, "Who has the right to speak disrespectfully about the commander of the diplomatic front? ... Where has this disrespect come from?" He stressed, "Let us allow the nuclear negotiations to conclude successfully, at that time we will explain to the people what hardships they have endured." Iranian media reported a "verbal altercation" between Mehdi Kouchakzadeh, a representative from Tehran in the parliament, and Mohammad Javad Zarif, Iran's foreign minister, at the end of a closed session of parliament on Sunday, June 3, and the video of this altercation was also published. According to this video, Zarif protested against being called a "traitor" by opposing representatives. "We did not believe in fortune-telling and sorcery." Rouhani continued his remarks by saying, "There is no power that allows people to express their opinions without hesitation, except for the government." He added, "Tell someone to criticize the parliament,... tell them to criticize the judiciary, they will say, for God's sake, let us live our lives. Tell them to criticize the government... criticize the president, flowers will bloom, and tongues will open; this is a sign of the correct path of the government." The President of Iran said, "We must be criticized; we are not infallible, unfortunately or fortunately, we do not even dream, and we have never believed in fortune-telling and sorcery." In the final years of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's presidency, several officials and personalities of the Islamic Republic accused Ahmadinejad's associates of resorting to sorcerers and fortune-tellers. In 2011, after the arrest of a person named Abbas Ghafari, some news websites referred to him as the "sorcerer and fortune-teller of Ahmadinejad's government." Two years earlier, Mir Hossein Mousavi, one of the candidates in the tenth presidential election, had said during his election campaign that the next government would be a government of rationality, "not one that is based on sorcery and fortune-telling."