Iranian women parliamentarians .. voters and boycotts, for all justifications

Ahmad al-Sibai - Tehran

Leaning on his cane and walking with difficulty, the elderly star entered the "Al-Rasoul Mosque" north of Tehran to cast his vote in the Iranian parliamentary elections, raising the slogan "Voting in these elections is the least duty of returning beautiful people who gave blood for us and charted the path of the future."

And he continued, "He worked hard to choose committed people who are not corrupt and do not steal. I have lived in Tehran for decades and have become a distinction between the corrupt and the one who works for the good of the people."

More than seven thousand candidates from 208 constituencies are competing for 290 parliamentary seats, 30 of which are for the capital, Tehran, which is the largest constituency in the country, and Uncle Najdi hopes that the names of the thirty candidates he has chosen are among those arriving in Parliament.

National songs
In light of the greatest challenge of the Iranian authorities, which is to push people to participate and raise them to 50%, which is the percentage predicted by a spokesman for the Guardians Council, Abbas Kadkhadi, the visitor to the "Al-Rasoul Mosque" center in the Narmak region, east of Tehran, is watching a scene decorated with flowers and balloons and singing national songs of the famous singer The late Muhammad Nuri.

The songs talk about "patriotism and the sacrifices made by the ancestors in order to elevate and advance this country."

We enter this center to see people lining up to cast their votes, some of whom raise their energy and ink stained with ink, indicating that they voted.

From east to central Tehran, where Yahya, a taxi driver who took us to the "Irshad" center, says he does not see the turnout and intensity of the polls as happened in the previous elections.

He continued, "I will not be elected because I am not convinced that this council is able to change or deal with any problem in the country."

According to the Ministry of Interior, the participation rate in the last ten elections was 60.5%.

Various issues
Analysts expect a weak turnout with an increasing tendency to boycott the entitlement, which will - according to media reports - be in the interest of the conservatives at the expense of President Hassan Rouhani, who won in 2017 a second presidential term.

The headlines that prompted people to participate in the elections were not economic. Rather, the headlines of the late Quds Force commander Qassem Soleimani, the Iranian revolution, and even "the blood of the martyrs" were overshadowed.

Mrs. Fatima confirmed, shortly after her vote, that "my vote today is a debt against me, and for the sake of the revolution and the blood of martyrs in the Islamic revolution and the Iraq-Iran war."

"We must stand behind the guide (Ali Khamenei) so that the blood of the martyrs will not be wasted. My duty is to elect the person whom I see righteous. If he changes and spoils after his arrival, this is his responsibility, his responsibility is to fulfill his promises."

“I chose 30 people that I think are good and will benefit the country,” says Muhammad Mahdi, whom we met outside the center of the “Al-Jawad” mosque. He continued, “Participation in the elections preserves the Islamic revolution. The candidates who I voted for are from the womb of the revolution and will work towards achieving its goals. Himself and stay on the revolution line. "

On the contrary, Mahmoud, a retired employee, sees that "the economy is very bad, and like most retirees, they are forced to work in order to support their families. People have lost confidence in the government because officials are breaking their promises, which is why participation in the elections is very low."

"Not participating in the elections is a direct message of opposition to the state that there is no confidence in it after today and that the people are bored with words and want to see deeds," he said.

Muhammad says that the people did not participate in mass due to the fact that he "tried the reformists and they did not deal with (anything), so they wanted to return the parliament to the conservatives so that they could try to do what the reformists failed in the previous parliament."

He concluded that "our elections are useless, for the reformists failed and the conservatives will fail. What is required is to present new faces and open the way for young people to solve their affairs as they see them appropriate for them and their future."