The Tehran municipality hangs banners in the city reading, “We participate in the elections to become Iran” (Al Jazeera)

Tehran -

While the Reform Front and the reformist parties in Iran announced that they would not participate in a list of the 30 seats in the elections for the twelfth parliament in Tehran, the Deputy Speaker of the Tenth Parliament, Ali Motahhari, published a list of 30 moderate and developmental candidates under the title “Voice of the People,” and 3 reformist parties announced - Addition To the Moderation Party, which is close to former President Hassan Rouhani, its support for Motahhari’s list.

On the other hand, the fundamentalist movement participates in the elections with at least 4 lists, and the unified list of the Revolutionary Forces Coalition Council Party and the Sustainability Party, headed by the current Speaker of Parliament, Muhammad Baqir Qalibaf, is the most important fundamentalist list in Tehran. The lack of compatibility of a group of the ruling movement with Qalibaf and the Coalition Council has led to Issuing another electoral list under the title “Popular Alliance of Islamic Revolutionary Forces (Al-Amina)”, headed by Hamid Rasaei.

The first electoral list published by the fundamentalist movements was linked to the traditional right, which is led in this electoral period by Muhammad Ali Mehdi Kermani. He presented his candidates under the title “Fundamentalist Unity Council”, and his electoral list is headed by Manouchehr Mottaki, Foreign Minister of the government of former President Ahmadinejad.

But the fourth electoral list of fundamentalists, which can be considered the strangest list created by part of the active forces in this movement in the virtual space and controversial circles and gatherings, was formed under the leadership of controversial lecturer Rafi Pour.

The Reform Front announced that it does not have any candidate in the upcoming elections (Iranian press)

Two main streams

Political analyst Mehdi Shirzad explained that "the political currents in Iran can be divided into two parts: fundamentalists and reformists. For two years, the fundamentalist movement has controlled the government and all pillars of the political system in Iran," and he added in his interview with Al Jazeera Net that "there are disagreements in the fundamentalist house that led to the formation of... Multiple lists and lineups.

Shirzad said that the leadership of the reformist movement announced an official position, which is not to participate in the elections, but there are 3 reformist parties, in addition to the Moderation Party, which is close to former President Hassan Rouhani, who prefer to participate in the elections, and they announced their support for the list of Vice President of the Tenth Parliament, Ali Motahhari, after meetings between the two parties, According to him.

He believed that "the results of the previous elections showed that the higher the participation rate in the elections, the greater the voices demanding change and reform, but silence and coldness dominate the Iranian street today ahead of the March 1 elections."

He continued, "The differences in the fundamentalist house that led to multiple lists will reduce their chances, as the basis of fundamentalist opinions is fixed and has not changed, and in light of the multiplicity of lists, there will be divisions that may serve the list opposite the fundamentalists, that is, the People's Voice list led by Ali Motahhari," while he stressed that “If the people continue to boycott the ballot boxes, there is no chance for Motahhari’s list to win.”

Shirzad estimated that about 30% of those eligible to cast their votes constitute the base of fundamentalist opinions. He explained, “In the previous presidential elections - two years ago - about 15% of the total reformist base participated, and the apathy prevailing in the electoral atmosphere currently suggests that the capital, Tehran, will witness the same percentage, or 20%.” "At most, but the situation in other cities is different based on local electoral behavior."

He added, "While the fundamentalist majority traditionally participates in the elections, the reformist base boycotts the elections when it feels dissatisfied with the regime and the fundamentalists, and this matter plays an important role in shaping the course of the elections."

Analysts attribute the apathy in the Iranian elections to the lack of competition between the two main movements in the country (Al Jazeera)

Fundamental disagreements

For his part, political analyst Hadi Mohammadi said, “There are many reformists who did not run in the elections in the first place, and most of those who applied to run were not approved by the Guardian Council, and therefore the reformist movement decided to refrain from submitting lists, but this movement turned around after 4 parties decided He supported Ali Motahhari’s list in Tehran, and some of them presented lists in some other cities.”

He added in his interview with Al Jazeera Net, "On the other hand, we have the fundamentalist movement, whose members ran in large numbers, and the Guardian Council approved a very large number of them, which led to the presence of more than 5 fundamentalist lists in Tehran, and this shows the internal differences. In the previous session The fundamentalist movement presented two lists, but they united into one list 3 days before the start of the elections.”

Mohammadi expected that the participation rate in the whole country would be between 45% and 50%, and that the participation rate in Tehran would be limited to between 15% and 20%. He also ruled out the victory of 30 Tehran representatives in the elections, expecting the elections there to go to the second stage to complete the list. He said, “We We do not witness a competitive spirit among the people, because the competition is between almost one faction.”

Source: Al Jazeera