Iran Elections; Khamenei Declares Blank Ballots Forbidden, Election Boycott Statements Multiply
The Leader of the Islamic Republic has issued a fatwa in response to a question about casting a “blank ballot” in the elections, stating that this type of vote is “forbidden if it weakens the Islamic system.”
This fatwa by Ali Khamenei was published in the latest issue of Hezbollah Line publication at a time when declining citizen participation has become a major concern for government officials, and the Leader of the Islamic Republic himself called on everyone to participate in the elections in a speech a few days ago.
Hezbollah Line is an online weekly publication issued by the publishing office of the Leader of the Islamic Republic of Iran.
Iran’s presidential election is scheduled to be held on June 18 (28th of Khordad), and according to some polls, participation in this election is estimated at less than 40 percent, which is considered the lowest participation rate since the triumph of the 1979 revolution.
Calls for an “active and purposeful” boycott of the elections in this period have expanded in an unprecedented manner, and over the past months, various opposition and critical figures and institutions of the Islamic Republic inside and outside Iran have emphasized election boycott in different statements.
Following these political appeals, 150 political, civil, and professional activists inside and outside the country also boycotted the elections on Sunday, June 7 (16th of Khordad) by publishing a statement calling them “staged and orchestrated elections.”
The statement reads: “Despite the current deep internal and external crises, the atmosphere of this round of elections is more staged and orchestrated than before and in a state of public freeze, and is destined from now on to fail miserably.”
The statement also warned about “the polarized process of oppressive governance and defiant and rebellious people,” stating that the people of Iran have so far tried all peaceful methods from the ballot box to trust in reformist approaches, and after their failure, have found protest, strikes, and strengthening protest movements as a way out.
Earlier, families of those killed over the past three decades in Iranian prisons, streets, and skies by the judicial or security forces of the Islamic Republic, under the campaign “A Vote Without Vote,” had called for a boycott of the presidential election.
Decreasing trust in ballot boxes and the Islamic Republic’s government, spread of poverty and widespread public dissatisfaction with economic, political, and social conditions, continuation of security measures, widespread and bloody suppression of public protests especially in November 2019, cover-up of the downing of the Ukrainian plane by the Revolutionary Guards, mismanagement of the coronavirus pandemic, and widespread disqualification of candidates are among the reasons cited for declining public enthusiasm and support for an election boycott.
Source: Radio Farda
