Three Strategies by a Member of Parliament for Reforming Governance in the Political Arena
Malek Shariati Niasar, Tehran’s representative in Parliament, in an interview with ISNA
We need to simultaneously reform three laws to improve our governance in the political arena. One law pertains to political parties; we must give parties a serious role so they can play a part and take responsibility.
The second is the election law, both the presidential and parliamentary election laws, so that parties can play a larger role, ensuring that parties have an official role in the elections.
Currently, it is not the case that, for instance, Party A introduces individuals and then is accountable for these individuals and their programs. Today, parties ultimately engage in media political work and, at most, field advertising.
The third issue is the municipal and council election law, because the number of single and dual representatives from electoral districts in Parliament is high, and these representatives make up almost two-thirds of Parliament. The dominance of Parliament’s activities is linked to these individuals.
Parliament is moving towards becoming more of a local parliament rather than a national one. If we want to organize our political arena, Parliament must be elevated and become more national.