Our Civic Duties and the Elections for the Eighth Majles

Elections for the Eighth Majles will take place on March 14, a little over one month from now. According to a press release from the elections section of the Ministry of Interior, 31 percent of the applicants have been disqualified, which news reports estimate at 3,000 people. Shahabeddin Sadr, executive director of the fundamentalist coalition and a well-known conservative, stated that “95 percent of the candidates for the Eighth Majles are fundamentalists.” At this stage, only 3 percent of the reformist candidates have been approved and it is unclear how many of these will be deemed “competent” by the Council of Guardians.

Ali Mazroui, member of the Islamic Iran Participation Front’s Central Council said, “about 97 percent of the reformist candidates for Parliament have been dismissed by executive council,” including former ministers from the governments of Presidents Khatami and Rafsanjani. This speaks to the extent of the intolerance of those currently in charge. Thus, this current round of elections is a race among fundamentalists. In the lead up to the Seventh Majles elections, 190 of the 290 seats were determined before election day. All evidence indicates that these elections will be similarly controlled by the government. According to reformist groups, they can only provide a list of 23 people inside the country for 290 Parliamentary seats, because all of the candidates under review have been disqualified.

At this point, what is to be done? Should we sit back and allow government-controlled, unjust, and illegitimate elections to be carried out? Or can we instead use our power and capacities to change the government’s behavior?

I have never been in favor of a military attack on Iran. I believe that the Iranian people must be empowered to pursue democracy and to achieve political, social, economic, and cultural rights, in other words, civil liberties. Political change must be initiated from within the country and by the hands of the Iranian people. Focusing on internal capabilities, all Iranian parties (both inside and outside the country), Iranian political activists, and all recently vetoed candidates should actively defend the rights of the Iranian people. 

If we examine the problem more closely, we will notice that this lack of civil liberties is significant in two key areas. The first area is the body of law that governs the election process, which has imposed difficult conditions onto candidates. An important example is the unconditional acceptance of, and blind acquiescence to, the Velayat-e Faqih, which denies civil liberties to individuals who do not agree with or subscribe to the views of the religious authorities – despite that many within the religious ranks do not always agree with the views of the jurists.

The second point relates to the election process itself, a process in which the Ministry of Interior’s executive council and the Council of Guardians have adopted illegal procedures, changing the law to suit their personal preferences. For example, many of the candidates who had served in the Sixth Majles and who were subsequently vetoed by the Council of Guardians appealed to this body for an explanation. In response, the Council informed them that they should not have signed a controversial letter which had questioned the role of the Velayat-e Faqih in Parliament, which had been viewed by the ruling elite as a blatant challenge to the authority of the jurists. However, according to the Constitution, the Leadership must respect the law and Members of Parliament have the right to express their views on all issues pertaining to the country. In addition, the electoral laws and procedures in Iran violate several international conventions, to which Iran is a signatory, including the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, and the Declaration on Criteria for Free and Fair Elections of the Inter-Parliamentary Union.

Because of the significant interference in Iran’s electoral process, those who are not backed by the jurists do not enjoy political rights and cannot put themselves and their political views to the electoral test. Thus, we need another solution. The Iranian government must ultimately be reminded of its international commitments and be forced to implement them through such international bodies as the United Nations (UN) and the Inter-Parliamentary Union. This approach has been proposed by the Liberation Movement of Iran in an official statement and has been welcomed by a number of political groups and activists. However, it is important to set this proposal in motion, as mere proclamations do not have the power to change the Iranian regime. In this light, I suggest:

1. All candidates who have been banned from competing for seats in these elections should write a letter of protest to the Inter-Parliamentary Union and demand an investigation into and action against the violation of their rights. The Parliamentary Council of the Fourth Majles passed legislation on March 26, 1994 which establishes a system of free and fair elections. According to this legislation, and based on the principles of free elections, every citizen has the right to register as a candidate through an efficient and neutral process. However, anyone who is denied the right to vote or the right to register as a candidate must have access to a system of recourse. This authority must have the capacity to investigate and handle these grievances and the ability to rectify the problem in a realistic and timely manner. All individuals have the right to participate in the government of their country and we must ensure equal opportunity for all citizens to present themselves as candidates for election. Standards for participation in government are based on a country’s constitutional laws and cannot be incompatible with international obligations.

2. The Inter-Parliamentary Union’s Human Rights Commission addresses violations of the fundamental rights of representatives in the Majles. Thus, those who have been prevented from running in these elections and have prior experience in Parliament can appeal to this commission, which will in turn investigate the complaint and compel the Iranian government to rectify any violation. Therefore, I invite all colleagues who have been refused approval to participate in this round of parliamentary elections, to register a complaint with this commission and to in turn help defend the political rights of the Iranian people.

3. Iran has signed the Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, a step which has been approved by the Majles. The implementation of this convention is among Iran’s international obligations, to which the Iranian regime must abide. Therefore, all political parties inside and outside of Iran, political activists, and yet-to-be-approved candidates for upcoming elections can and must register a complaint to the Human Rights Commission of the United Nations regarding Iran’s commitment to pursue free elections and demand that any breaches be penalized.

4. Moreover, the Human Rights Commission of the UN, at the urging of several human rights agencies, ratified a decree in January 2006 that allows for a “mechanism of periodic review.” According to this decree, the UN’s Human Rights Commission can inspect human rights conditions around the world, and with the help of other member countries, can regulate abuses. All Iranian political activists and organizations may also use this resource to demand that Iran remain committed to the promotion of political rights and free elections. (*)

While it is hard to imagine that the above-mentioned measures will produce an immediate outcome regarding the Iranian government’s actions, one can hope that in the long-run, they will have a significant effect on Iran’s internal political situation, on the regime, and on the people. The lack of free elections and independent channels for protest in Iran are evident. One need only examine a few examples: the discussions of former head of Majles, Mr. Karoobi with former president, Mr. Khatami; the resignation of former government ministers and provincial governors; the 29-day sit-in staged by Members of the Sixth Majles; and student demonstrations. We must leverage Iran’s international commitments. We know from prior experience that widespread boycotts or mass participation in elections has little effect in changing the regime’s defiance of free and fair elections. It is time to end political passivity, and with the aid of international law, to compel the Iranian leadership and its government to adhere to these fair standards.

*Editor’s note: Please click here for an overview of the type of electoral assistance that the United Nations can provide. Please click here for the Electoral Assistance Implementation Guide published by the United Nations Development Programme and here for the website of the Electoral Assistance Division.