These Elections are a Project of Unified Governance in Favor of the Extremist Current

A group of reformists in a statement have said that “due to the widespread and organized disqualification of candidates in favor of a particular current” in most electoral districts, they are unable to introduce candidates and have effectively been “deprived of participation in the elections.”

A statement by a recognized group of Iranian reformists first criticized: “The qualifications of candidates who are members of more than 15 reformist parties and organizations have been rejected by the Guardian Council.

In this statement published on Sunday, February 17, it stated: “The fate of most parliamentary seats is already determined, and in electoral competition in those districts, practically no recognized reformist candidates supported by reform advocates are present.”

The mass disqualification of reformist candidates has caused the “Supreme Council for Reformist Policy-making and several of the most important and influential reformist parties in Tehran and more than two-thirds of the provinces, despite extensive efforts and preliminary preparations, to be unable to introduce candidates and actively participate in electoral competitions, and a significant portion of Iranian society to be deprived of the right to vote.”

The reformists signing the statement emphasize: “In our view, the project of unified governance in favor of the most extremist political current has begun with the eleventh parliamentary elections of the Islamic Consultative Assembly to realize the long-held dream of this current, namely the transformation of the Islamic Republic into an Islamic government, which will inevitably fail.”

They say that the exclusionary approach of the governance “is being managed and implemented while dear Iran needs the highest level of solidarity and national participation to confront the most serious internal and external crises that have targeted the existence of this nation in an unprecedented manner.”

The reformist signatories of the statement warn: “This situation will not only fail to solve or reduce the fundamental problems of the country and people, but will expose the interests and benefits of the Iranian nation to more severe crises and will force the country to pay heavier costs.”

While expressing their inability to participate in “the majority of electoral districts,” they have not spoken of “boycott,” but instead recommended: “We invite the limited number of recognized reformist candidates who have been approved and any candidate who believes in comprehensive, just and sustainable development of the country and opposes war, sanctions, exclusivism and corruption, in their electoral campaigns and programs, and if elected to parliament, to take steps in the direction of the above objectives during their term of representation.”