Rouhani: The Next Parliament Will Not Belong to One Party or Faction

The President of Iran emphasized that the next parliament will not belong to 'one party or faction,' stating that 'everyone is equal in the eyes of the government' and that election executive bodies will not approve one political faction while disqualifying another. According to the state news agency IRNA, Hassan Rouhani, on Wednesday, August 28, at a joint meeting of the government and governors, asserted: 'Can a faction say that I have found a dyeing vat that I can color as I wish? It is not like that.' He stressed that all groups and 'political factions' are legally respected, and no legal party, faction, or group in the country should feel 'despair.' Rouhani stated: 'We do not have a place in the country that seeks to disqualify qualified and devoted individuals who want to serve the country using their experiences, regardless of their faction.' He added: 'Wasn't the first parliament after the Islamic Revolution, at a time when even the Guardian Council did not exist and all even destructive groups were present, the best parliament in the history of this country?' Rouhani also referred to the upcoming Assembly of Experts elections, saying that anyone who thinks otherwise, that 'the decision-makers for this country are the people of Iran... is undermining the roots of the Islamic Republic.' 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. Meanwhile, reformist groups in Iran have also reported planning to introduce candidates in these elections and have called for guarantees for free, lawful, and competitive elections. Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, the head of the Expediency Discernment Council of Iran, had previously described the upcoming parliamentary elections as one of the most important elections in the country, stating that the people should show through this process that they desire moderation and reject extremism. In response to such positions from reformists, some principlists and members of the Guardian Council have spoken of disqualifying protesters from the 2009 presidential elections. Meanwhile, Ali Saeedi, the representative of the Supreme Leader in the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, on Tuesday, June 9, called the change of the principlist parliament to 'another parliament' a 'threat' to what he called 'the interests of the system' and also to the 'ideals' of Ayatollah Khomeini and Ayatollah Khamenei. In this context, the newspaper Qanoon, in its Wednesday issue, published a report about 'concerns over the influence of Ahmadinejad supporters in the Guardian Council's supervisory bodies,' quoting Mohammad Reza Tabesh, a reformist member of parliament, stating that 'in some provinces, the individuals appointed to oversee the proper conduct of elections and the approval of qualifications have a factional and political outlook.' 'Supervision and execution' in elections 'should not be mixed.' In past governments, there have always been conflicts between the Ministry of Interior and the Guardian Council regarding the approval of candidates and the conduct of elections. In this context, Hassan Rouhani, in his remarks on Wednesday, reminded that the Guardian Council is the overseer and the government is the executor of elections, emphasizing that the Guardian Council is 'an overseer, not an executor... and supervision and execution should not be mixed.' The President of Iran, in another part of his speech, referred to what he called the 'nuclear victory' as the beginning of 'comprehensive and successive victories,' stating that the Islamic Consultative Assembly elections should be a 'joyful and glorious' election in which all people participate. He added: 'Just as the world looks at Iran with respect after the nuclear negotiations have concluded, we must hold elections that the world looks at with pride and respect.' Previously, some principlist figures in Iran, including Mohammad Reza Bahonar, the deputy speaker of the Iranian parliament, have repeatedly emphasized that the outcome of negotiations regarding Iran's nuclear program could significantly impact the upcoming parliamentary elections. Meanwhile, Gholamali Haddad Adel, the head of the principlist faction in parliament, stated on November 30, 2014: 'We representatives... clearly tell the Americans: Do not think that you can interfere in the upcoming parliamentary elections through threats and extensions regarding the negotiations and create an impact in your favor.' Ahmad Jannati, the secretary of the Guardian Council, also emphasized on August 14 that the nuclear agreement should not be used as a 'tool' in the elections. 'We should not think that after reaching an agreement, we can speak and act as we wish, and others will not react to this change in our behavior.' Rouhani concluded his remarks by stating that the Islamic Republic of Iran's approach is to insist on resolving 'all global issues' through negotiation and dialogue. He added: 'We should not think that after reaching an agreement, we can speak and act as we wish, and others will not react to this change in our behavior. The President of Iran emphasized: 'We must continue the constructive path correctly, the same path that the people favored in June 2013, which was the factor for this success, and if we do not continue that path, the agreement may not be sustainable.' Rouhani's statements come at a time when the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic has repeatedly attacked the United States after the Vienna nuclear agreement, accusing it of seeking a way to 'infiltrate the country' through the nuclear agreement.