Iran stages a dismal election as Islamic regime circles the wagons
The Washington Post, March 3, 2024
Voter turnout in elections in Iran hit what appears a historic low. According to unofficial accounts, only about 40 percent of the electorate cast a ballot Friday in separate votes for the country’s national parliament and the Assembly of Experts, the political body that will select the successor to Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran’s 84-year-old supreme leader. An opposition boycott and widespread disenchantment set the mood, even as the theocratic regime pushed its citizens to come out to the polls.
“If the election is weak, everyone will be hurt,” Khamenei cajoled Iranians ahead of the vote last week. “I am not accusing anyone, but I remind everyone that we should look at the elections from the perspective of our national interests.”
That message didn’t quite resonate, and even elicited something of a backlash. The turnout numbers may mark the lowest since the 1979 revolution that brought the Islamic regime into power. In Tehran, the capital, as little as 11 percent of the electorate may have voted. Ordinary Iranians signaled their despair at a miserable economy, their anger over the repression of landmark protests in 2022, and their cynicism about a regime that disqualified myriad candidates who were not in Khamenei’s hard-line camp from contesting seats.
“Voting has no value when we have no voice. It has no effect on our lives,” Massoud, identified as a 26-year-old university student, told the Financial Times. “Voting will give a sense of security to those who won’t even listen to us once the elections are over. By not voting, at least I can signal that I am not supporting them.”
Read More
Rep. Young Kim (R-CA) Speaks at the Congressional Briefing on Iran Policy
OIAC Donation | 501 (c)(3) Tax deductible
Your donation will help OIAC advocate for a democratic, secular and non-nuclear government in Iran. Founded on the respect for human rights, gender equality, religious and ethnic tolerance, as wells as social, economic justice, and security for America. Our goal is to organize Iranian-American communities in the United States to promote these values.
