Statement by a group of women political prisoners on the necessity of boycotting and rejecting the parliamentary elections

A number of Iranian women imprisoned on political charges have called for a boycott of the parliamentary elections in a statement. They say the Islamic Republic has always been an authoritarian regime that tries to portray itself as democratic through “elections.”

A statement by 12 female activists imprisoned in Iranian prisons states that in the Islamic Republic, with the "establishment and protection of the absolute religious monarchy (Velayat Faqih), the right to sovereignty and choice of the Iranian people was usurped and stolen."

They say that the "Islamic Consultative Assembly" today is "not a democratic institution, but rather a completely anti-people element that is completely at the service of the government."

They say that the Iranian people, in successive riots and uprisings, "have loudly and clearly declared their true and irrevocable vote from January 2017 to the bloody uprising of November 2019 and thereafter, with their lives on the streets."

Emphasizing that “this system and its elections are based solely on the blood of millions of innocent young people,” the imprisoned women conclude: “We must leave their elections to themselves and remain in the real field of popular elections. Everyone who goes to the polls will have their fingerprints registered on the trigger of the gun that is fired at the revolutionary youth, and it is a sign of approval of the ruling system and its crimes.”

This statement was signed by 12 imprisoned women, such as: Yasmin Ariani, Neda Ashtiani, Atena Daemi, Sepideh Farhan, and…

One-quarter turnout in elections

In recent days, various political circles and groups have called on people to boycott the elections and not participate in a process that they believe is contrary to true democracy.

Despite repeated emphasis by the leaders of the Islamic Republic on the necessity of widespread public participation in the upcoming elections, a week before the 11th term of the Islamic Consultative Assembly elections, the Institute for Social Studies and Research at the University of Tehran published the results of a survey.

According to this survey, conducted in the first half of last February, more than three-quarters of Tehran citizens said they would not participate in the upcoming elections.

Only slightly more than 24 percent of eligible voters said they would participate in the upcoming parliamentary elections.

Source: DW