Amid expectations of a low turnout, Iran's regime has sent messages to millions of Iranians encouraging them to run in the upcoming parliamentary election.
The message, sent via SMS by the election taskforce of the Interior Ministry, has called on all potential candidates to register in the ministry’s website from August 7 to 15 to be considered for the legislative elections scheduled to take place on 1 March 2024.
Many politicians and pundits in recent weeks have been speaking of an expected low turnout after the experience of the past two elections when many relatively moderate candidates were barred from running. Some argue that voters do not see a reason to go to the polls if they have a limited choice. Many citizens are also angry at the hardliners in charge after their brutal repression of last year's protests.
Reformist commentator and seasoned journalist Abbas Abdi expressed his astonishment with a tweet, saying that the regime used to oppose “the high number of candidates; Now, they are sending millions of text messages urging people to run in the election.”
His quip was a reference to remarks by made in previous years by members of the conservative camp as well as the Guardian Council, who argued that due to "flaws" in the electoral laws in Iran, a large number of people can register and run as candidates in parliamentary and presidential elections.
The role of the Guardian Council, a constitutional watchdog has become highly controversial after it disqualified hundreds of relatively moderate candidates in the 2020 parliamentary vote and again key leading figures in the 2021 presidential race. As a result, hardliners established total control of the legislature and are dominating all positions in the presidential administration.
Mahmoud Sadeghi, a former member of parliament and reformist activist, only posted a screenshot of the message with a caption that ironically read “No comment.”
Mohammad Sohofi, a deputy culture minister for press affairs under reformist president Mohammad Khatami, referred to the interior ministry’s text messages and said he was disqualified for the parliamentary election in 2016. With a sarcastic tone, he announced that he no longer intends to run.
The SMS seems to be a publicity stunt to feign a free political environment because politicians who may be capable of influencing the turnout – such as former Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani – cannot be invited to run with a short undirected message. The moderate conservative was the most prominent individual disqualified by the Guardian Council in 2021.
During the past several weeks, many politicians have voiced concern that barring reformist and non-conservative candidates will lead to a low turnout and lackluster elections next year. Amid concerns about Paydari party's attempts to manipulate the upcoming parliamentary elections, reformists say that the hardliner group also aims to extend its "purification" project to the Assembly of Experts (AoE), the constitutional body that would select the next Supreme Leader.
The purification project, referring to hardliners monopolizing government institutions, began with the presidential and parliamentary elections in 2021 and 2020, when relatively moderate candidates were barred from competing. Now there are suspicions that hardliners plan to repeat the same tactic in 2024, to make sure that all the members of the parliament come from the same political faction and appoint their men to the Assembly of experts.
Some officials, including former interior minister and deputy intelligence minister Mostafa Pourmohammadi, are also deeply concerned about the adverse impact of the country's dire economic situation on many voters who are simply dissatisfied with all regime politicians.
Referring to Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei's call for a high-turnout election in March 2024, Pourmohammadi said in an interview with IRGC-linked Javan newspaper on Saturday that voters cannot be forced to go to the polls. He said, "People will vote if they are happy about the current situation and have high hopes about the future."