Teaching Comparative Government and Politics

Thursday, January 05, 2012

Who is happy?

Critics of the upcoming Iranian elections seem to come from everywhere. Does that mean that only those politicians not complaining are confident of victory? How can they be confident?

Opposition leader calls upcoming Iran election bogus

An Iranian opposition leader who has been under house arrest since February has accused the Islamic establishment of intending to hold a “rubber-stamp” parliamentary election in March, his website Sahamnews…

Candidates began registering... for the March 2 vote, which will be the first litmus test of the clerical leadership's public standing since a disputed 2009 presidential vote that precipitated months of unrest…

Candidate registration will last one week and then entrants will be screened for their political and Islamic qualifications by the hard-line Guardian Council electoral watchdog.

The Council has stopped hundreds of reformist candidates in the past from participating in elections…

Leading reformist politicians said pro-reform groups would not submit a separate list of candidates because the basic needs of a “free and fair” vote have not been fulfilled.

Authorities are concerned that a low turnout would question the establishment’s legitimacy, and so hard-line conservative rulers have urged voters to participate in the March elections.

Parliamentary Elections in Iran: Who and How will Participate

Parliamentary election campaign in Iran is traditionally launched with the start of the Election Organization's activity, formed under the Interior Ministry, and ends with the start of activity of the newly elected parliament. This process continues within a year.

Elections in Iran are held under the control of the Guardian Council…

[C]andidates must be Iranian citizens, confess Islam and believe in the Islamic Republic and show their faith in action.

They must be true to Iran's Constitution and the country's Supreme Leader. In addition, they should be authoritative leaders in their circles (those with shadowy past are not allowed), should be physically healthy (not to be blind, deaf and dumb) and have a Master's degree. A candidate must be at least 30 and no older than 75 years…

The parliamentary elections in Iran (the Iranian Islamic Consultative Council - Majlis) are held every four years. The parliamentary elections of the VIII convocation were held on March 14, 2008. At the moment, there are 290 MPs.

Teaching Comparative blog entries are indexed.