Dozens of political activists from 50 Iranian cities call for election boycott; Korosh Zaiem: There is no benefit for people in voting

231 political and civil activists, lawyers, artists, and families of victims who lost their lives in prisons or during nationwide protests in 50 cities and 25 provinces of Iran have issued a statement calling for a boycott of the 2021 presidential election, referring to the elections as “theatrical.”

In this statement, a copy of which was also sent to Voice of America on Monday, June 17, it states that “a boycott of the elections by masses of Iranian people expresses our will and vote in alignment with the national solidarity movement”; signatories of this statement have named their election boycott effort a new movement aimed at replacing the “apartheid religious constitution of the Islamic Republic” with a democratic constitution that guarantees “unconditional implementation of human rights” for Iranian citizens.

Signatories of this statement listed the “removal of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei,” “holding a referendum to dissolve the Islamic Republic’s constitution,” “creating necessary and sufficient conditions for holding free and fair elections during a transitional period under the supervision of impartial organizations such as the United Nations to form a constituent assembly,” and “drafting a new constitution of the country through the constituent assembly” among the conditions for achieving a new democratic constitution.

These civil and political activists, who say that post-Islamic Republic Iran will be governed within the framework of rule of law based on human rights, have stated their goal for boycotting the Islamic Republic’s presidential election as a “non-violent and peaceful transition from the unsustainable system of velayat-e faqih and constitution” in pursuit of a “democratic and secular constitution based on the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.”

• Korosh Zaiem: There is no benefit for people in participating in elections

Korosh Zaiem, a political activist and one of the signatories of this statement, referring to the fact that Iranian people “have been trapped in prescribed elections for 40 years,” told Voice of America: A nation that does not have the right to protest against injustice, corruption, embezzlement, structural violence, and not even the right to choose their own clothing, cannot vote for those who have imposed these limitations on them.

He, who believes that Iran over the past 40 years has economically and industrially been transformed into one of the “most backward countries in Asia,” added: “If another election round proceeds under these same conditions, our country will not only collapse, but from an economic and popular standpoint, it may even collapse in terms of borders,” Mr. Zaiem says “we are at a stage in this country’s life where if we do not save it from the mafia of corruption and violence that brought our country to this day, it is possible that there may no longer be a country called Iran.”

Korosh Zaiem, at the end, referring to the possibility of widespread fraud in the elections, told Voice of America: “We warn people that whether you vote or don’t vote, it will have no effect on the government’s conduct; but if you don’t vote, at least we can reclaim your rights through international organizations and according to their laws.”

Mohammad Nourizad, political prisoner, Akram Nobabi, mother of Saeed Zinali and one of the Park Laleh mothers, Mohammad Najafi, a lawyer imprisoned in Iran, Hashem Zinali, father of Saeed Zinali, a student detained during the 1999 student protests and later reported missing, Frangis Mazloom, mother of Soheil Arabi, a political prisoner in Iran, Hashmatolah Tabarzadi, secretary-general of the Iran Democratic Front, Mahnaz Sarabi Kadkhoda, mother of Alireza Shirmohammadali, a political prisoner who died in prison in 2019, and Hashem Khasta are among 14 other signatories of this statement calling for an election boycott.

The Iranian presidential election is scheduled to be held on June 28, to determine the successor to Hassan Rouhani, who served as president for eight years.

However, the thirteenth presidential election of the Islamic Republic of Iran is approaching at a time when it is said that the number of Iranian citizens who have no desire to participate in the election has increased compared to previous times, with some religious minority rights activists and political activists speaking more openly than before about boycotting the elections.

Source: Voice of America