Iran Fearful of Low Voter Participation in March 1 Parliamentary Elections

Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ cultural and social deputy recently warned of alleged enemy machinations to reduce participation in Iran’s March 1 parliamentary elections. However, other news agencies have pointed at much simpler reasons for declining electoral participation: the Guardian Council’s disqualification of candidates, even current parliamentarians who were allowed to run for office and were elected four years ago.

• January 5: Centrist Borna News released the names of 26 current parliamentarians who registered to run for the March parliamentary elections but were disqualified by the Guardian Council on unclear grounds.
• January 9: Khamenei’s official website released the full text of his statements to a delegation visiting from the city of Qom:
  • Referencing unnamed enemies of the Islamic Republic, he stated, “They are trying to make people lose hope in the future. Just look at home: Much of the enemy media … is trying to make people lose hope. They find one negative point and make broad generalizations and make it appear bigger so people lose hope – particularly the youth. They want the youth to lose hope and say, ‘What difference does it make to engage in politics? What is the benefit of participating in elections?’ This is how the enemy operates.”
  • Khamenei further claimed the “enemy” is “showcasing deficiencies and hardships in the economy. Well, yes, we do have economic problems, and there is no doubt about it. Different economic weaknesses exist, and that is for certain, and they make these weaknesses manifest for everyone to see.”
  • “They also try to frighten the people of the United States, of the Zionist regime, this and that” to reduce participation in elections, “but the Iranian nation has learned not to fear.”
  • According to Khamenei, “the enemy” is also trying to “weaken the beliefs of the people … Look at the hijab issue and all the events related to it. The hijab itself is not the issue. Some may not know, or are not paying attention, or have certain motives, but the hijab is not the real issue … They are trying to polarize society.”
• January 10: As reported by reformist Entekhab News, Colonel Majid Bazrafkan, the IRGC’s cultural and social deputy, discussed potential threats facing the March elections while addressing members of the Basij in Arak, Markazi province:
  • “The Basij is totally committed to increasing popular participation … and fighting the enemies.” Iran’s “model of resistance was manifested for the entire world to see in the victory of the Islamic Revolution, and, through popular participation in the elections, we must serve as role models to others.”
  • Turning to challenges to popular participation, Bazrafkan continued: “The enemies possess cyberinfrastructure, and the people, too, are not inclined to watch television,” referencing the inability of the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting to attract viewers. “The street level, however, is a venue for the Basij members to engage in propaganda and tell the truth, and this opportunity should not be wasted … Just like the Hamas and Islamic Jihad kids who are now living and fighting the enemies under the rubble, the Basij members, too, must resist the psychological warfare of the enemy.”

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