The Brokers’ Involvement in the Elections Begins
The Farhikhtegan newspaper wrote that reports indicate some individuals are present alongside election candidates whose role is to organize lists, and they have their own methods for this list organization. These methods range from keeping candidates unaware that they are on the list to receiving money to place a candidate on the list.
One of the candidates in the twelfth parliamentary election, who is participating independently, told the Farhikhtegan reporter that generally, some people might have a party share from the lists, but unfortunately, there are other exchanges as well, one of the most important being financial transactions. Part of the amounts spent for individuals to be included in coalition lists is paid by certain individuals outside the list whose interests are served by the list’s success. However, as I was also offered, to be included in such lists, one must spend at least one hundred million tomans.
According to this election candidate, one hundred million tomans is the minimum cost to enter a list, which might not even be the main list. In response to the question about what this cost is used for, he says that from the list organizers’ side, this cost is claimed to be for photos and printing election lists, but the reality is that this figure is not justifiable for these tasks.
He describes another method of getting onto lists as ‘bag carrying’ and says some groups and list organizers invite candidates to gatherings and then, with the promise of being included in the list, use them alongside well-known political figures for a long time, thus taking away the individual’s political independence. However, some accept these conditions to enter the political arena.
