Requirements for a Standard Election
Requirements for a standard election are very important for the Islamic Republic, but only if the election truly holds its intrinsic meaning. This means that, regardless of viewing the election as a ritual to prove its populism and emphasize public involvement in determining their own fate, the outcome of this process must truly be a choice.
If the problems and grievances that people have experienced in their daily lives were not resolved by the previous government and officials, citizens should be able to elect individuals who have the ability to address these issues, and the promises they make should be executable within the four-year presidential term.
Currently, rather than the direction of electoral discussions being towards the people, it is often more towards individuals or political currents. It should be noted that until a few years ago, people from various social classes registered as candidates in the presidential elections.
They came into the Ministry of Interior from the street with very simple motivations, wanting to register and be interviewed. It’s good that today there is a mechanism in place to limit such registrations.
However, the registrations for the upcoming elections were somewhat strange.
In this regard, it was said that 200 people came to register for the elections, out of which about 80 registrations were accepted. These are individuals who have each held a position or responsibility in the past. They know that only one president is to be elected.
Now the question arises: does someone who registers along with their brother have a significant ideological difference from him, or are the Speaker and Deputy Speaker of Parliament so different that they want to compete for the presidency? The answers to these questions are clear.
It seems that currently, some want to use the election for other purposes.
The previous government could not complete its four-year term due to an incident. Now, in the upcoming elections, people are not looking for someone who does not criticize the previous government. The philosophy of elections is for officials to address the potential shortcomings of the previous government without blaming anyone or speaking ill of those who are not present.
In an ideal election, candidates should take action to address people’s problems by having and announcing a specific plan.
Currently, one of the candidates has promised to allocate millions of plots of land. This is good, but is it possible? I believe such statements or ideological comments or weaving political philosophy are not suitable for people who struggle from early morning with various economic problems and the imbalance between living costs and their incomes.
Issues such as inflation, the country’s administrative problems, widespread systematic or non-systematic corruption, the very complex bureaucracy that causes delays for citizens in various matters, the economic problems of the people, and poverty that affects at least 40% of the country’s population are very important. These are almost the common themes of all the speeches of the volunteer speakers at the Ministry of Interior, but none of them mentioned what their plan is, with what clear mechanism. The roots of this economic pressure in domestic affairs and foreign relations should be examined.
On the other hand, there are many grievances observed among the younger generation. The language of this generation is different from that of the previous generation and their demands must be addressed.
In the writer’s belief, elections should not be emptied of their true nature and reduced to mere advertising, speeches, registration time, and responding to criticisms so that no one speaks behind another’s back.
It seems that many of the registrations do not contain the main philosophy of elections, and as I have said before, even the approval or disqualification may serve some individuals in some way.
I think the election law should be amended after 45 years by the new parliament or through a government bill to hold a dignified election worthy of the Islamic Republic.
Currently, parties cannot have a specific role in the elections. If there was a possibility for parties, like in many countries, to introduce candidates, it would be a very reasonable and logical method.
Since this possibility does not exist now, at least the Ministry of Interior can request programs from candidates at the time of registration, at least a few pages outlining a clear mechanism to solve issues, rather than these individuals giving speeches instead of presenting a program.
The Ministry of Interior should inform presidential candidates that if you are going to make promises to the people in the elections that are real and executable, present your programs.
Then, a panel of professors and experts should review these programs to see if the proposed programs align with the country’s resources and are executable. After this stage, the Ministry of Interior should introduce candidates with practical programs to the people.
In this way, an election can be held where the people truly determine their future.
The age of the president is also another important issue in the presidential elections. After all, political positions also have a term, and one day a person must retire. Employees usually cannot work for more than 30 to 35 years.
Now, if someone, after this period of activity in various ministry and parliamentary positions, becomes president at the age of 70 and starts their work again, what justification is there?
The truth is that retirement is not only for ordinary people, and those of us who have been in executive positions and have reached the age of 60 to 70 should accept that it is better to engage in advisory roles or similar activities and gradually hand over full-time executive work like the presidency to a generation that is both claiming and has more mental and practical ability than most of us.
Today’s equations in candidacy, where it seems everyone comes to neutralize the other, seem to me to deviate from the main philosophy of elections for democracy or religious democracy.
We hope the situation of elections in the country improves day by day and we get closer and closer to ideals.