opinion
Published March 7, 2024 at 9:49 PM ET
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei spoke to the media after voting throughout parliamentary and professional council elections. zumapress.com
Friday’s sham elections for Iran’s parliament and the Assembly of Experts shocked the world as a report variety of voters ignored the regime’s name to vote and stayed house.
Four days later, Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei addressed the difficulty: . . Enemies of the Islamic Republic had been making an attempt to dissuade folks world wide. [voting in] It’s an election. ”
Still, he stated Iranians carried out “jihad” and did “nice and sumptuous” work, together with voting and countering hostile plots.
Ha! Just the alternative occurred. And everybody is aware of it.
The administration was clearly shocked by the size of the boycott.
They didn’t count on turnout to be so low and so humiliating after Khamenei repeatedly referred to as for votes.
The consequence was precisely what Khamenei sought to keep away from, particularly in gentle of the nationwide uprisings in 2022.
“If the election outcomes are dangerous, everybody will [the system] We’re going to lose,” he warned throughout one among a number of speeches inviting folks to take part.
But regardless of the regime’s manipulation and inflated numbers, the world noticed empty voting cubicles.
Even state media and officers near Khamenei had been compelled to acknowledge the tragedy.
Opposing factions additionally highlighted the dearth of public participation.
According to the Interior Ministry, the first-place candidate in Tehran obtained solely 7.7% of the vote, about half of the variety of first-place candidates in 2020.
The scenario in different cities was not bettering.
On Sunday, Bahar News reported: “In Shiraz, which has 1.39 million voters, the primary candidate obtained 78,000 votes. In different phrases, practically 95% of the folks didn’t vote for the primary candidate!”
Farhiktegan Daily, which is affiliated with Ali Akbar Velayati, Khamenei’s advisor, emphasised three factors:
First, the “lowest electoral participation fee within the historical past of the Islamic Republic” is proof that the regime is going through a “disaster of legitimacy.”
Second, the Iranian persons are “maximally” politically, economically, and culturally dissatisfied.
Third, the nationwide uprisings of 2019 and 2022 had been “open within the streets” and “by no means closed within the political sq.,” and “calls to boycott elections ultimately turned meaningless.” I discovered a spot.”
According to a report within the government-run Setare Sob newspaper, former parliamentary safety committee head Heshmatullah Farahtopisheh bluntly declared that “the election outcome will not be a victory however a failure.”
“Never earlier than within the historical past of revolutions have all administrative and political capacities been utilized to this extent,” he added. . . . Everything from calls for and needs to threats had been used to encourage folks to vote. ”
Iran’s most important opposition motion, the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran, which monitored about 2,000 polling stations, reported solely 8.2% of greater than 61 million voters participated.
Everything the regime did, from dishonest to threats and encouragement, backfired.
As Ayatollah Khamenei feared, the nationwide boycott sounded the alarm that the regime would collapse.
The mullahs at the moment are going through a state that, regardless of repression and intimidation, is gaining power from a present of solidarity in rejecting the regime.
Resistance forces, which have been very lively throughout the rebellion since 2017, changed regime propaganda indicators with posters and partitions studying “My vote means regime change” throughout the election interval.
This is precisely how the folks boycotted the election and successfully voted.
What lies forward? More protests and riots will happen.
This election offers a possibility for the worldwide group to reevaluate its coverage towards Iran.
Iranians spoke loud and clear.
They are extra decided than ever to overthrow the regime, and the world wants to face with them.
The authorities should maintain the regime accountable for crimes towards humanity, terrorism, regional warmongering and mayhem, and the mad rush towards nuclear weapons.
The Iranian folks and their resistance have demonstrated the flexibility and dedication to vary the regime.
The worldwide group ought to acknowledge the best to take action as we attempt for a free, democratic, and separate Republic of Iran.
Now is the time to take heed to Iran and take motion.
Twitter: @A_Jafarzadeh
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