The Necessities of a Standard Election

The necessities of a standard election

The necessities of a standard election are very important for the Islamic Republic, but if the election truly embodies its inherent concept, meaning that regardless of viewing elections as rituals to prove popular legitimacy and emphasizing people’s involvement in determining their own destiny, the outcome of this process should truly be an election.

If the problems and grievances that people have in their current lives were not addressed by the previous government and officials, citizens should be able to choose individuals who are capable of addressing these issues and promises made by them should be executable during the 4-year presidential term.

Currently, instead of the election discussions being directed towards the people, they tend to focus more on individuals or political movements. It should be noted that until a few years ago, individuals from various walks of life used to register as presidential candidates.

They would come with very simple motivations from the streets to the Ministry of Interior and wanted to register and have interviews with them. It is good that a mechanism has been considered today to limit these types of registrations.

The current registrations for the upcoming elections were a bit strange.

It was mentioned that 200 people had applied for registration in the elections, out of which about 80 were accepted. These are individuals who have had positions and responsibilities in the past and they know that only one president is supposed to be elected.

Now the question arises whether a person who is running for candidacy alongside his brother has a significant ideological difference with him, or the head and deputy head of the parliament are so distant from each other that they want to compete for the presidency. The answer to these questions is clear.

It seems that some currently want to use the elections for other purposes.

The previous government could not complete its 4-year term due to incidents. Now, in the upcoming elections, the people are looking for someone who does not criticize the previous government. The philosophy of the elections is for officials to address potential shortcomings in the previous government without condemning anyone or speaking ill of those who are not present.

In a desirable election, individuals who run for candidacy should have clear plans and declare them in order to take action in resolving people’s issues.

Currently, one of the candidates has promised to allocate millions of land plots. While this sounds good, I believe that this kind of ideological statements or political philosophy expressions may not be suitable for people who struggle with various economic problems from early morning, facing the mismatch between the cost of living and their incomes.

Issues such as inflation, administrative problems in the country, widespread systematic or non-systematic corruption, and complex bureaucracies causing delays for citizens in various matters, as well as the economic problems of the people and the poverty that encompasses at least 40% of the country’s population, are very important. These are almost the common themes in the speeches of all volunteer speakers at the Ministry of the Interior, but none of them mentioned what their plans are and how they intend to address these issues. The roots of this economic pressure in domestic affairs and foreign relations of the country should be examined.

On the other hand, a lot of dissatisfaction is observed among the younger generation. The language of this generation is different from the language of the past generation, and their demands should be addressed.

In the reader’s opinion, elections should not be emptied of their real nature, and it should not be reduced to just advertising, speeches during the registration period, and responding to criticisms, so that no one speaks on behalf of another behind their back.

It seems that many of the registrations that have taken place do not have the main philosophy of elections, and as I mentioned before, it is possible that this confirmation or disqualification may come into play somewhere for some individuals.

In my opinion, the election law should be amended by the new parliament or the government bill after 45 years so that honorable elections can be held that are in the interest of the Islamic Republic.

Currently, parties cannot have a specific intervention in the elections. If it were possible for parties to introduce candidates, as in many countries, it would have been a very reasonable and logical method.

At present, since such a possibility does not exist, at least the Ministry of Interior can request a general mechanism for solving problems from candidates at the time of registration, at least a few pages clear, instead of these individuals giving speeches instead of presenting a program.

The Ministry of Interior should announce to the presidential candidates that if they are going to make promises to the people in the elections, make sure they are real and executable, present your plans.

Then, a committee of professors and experts should review these plans to see if they are in line with the country’s capabilities and are executable. After this stage, the Ministry of Interior should introduce candidates who have practical plans to the people.

One way to hold elections is where people truly become the determiners of their own future.

The age of the president is another important issue in presidential elections. Eventually, political positions have terms, and at some point, an individual must retire. Employees usually cannot work more than 30 to 35 years.

Now, if someone, after this period of activity in various ministerial and parliamentary positions, becomes president at the age of 70 and starts their work again, what justification do they have?

The truth is that retirement is not only for ordinary individuals. Those of us who have been in executive positions and have reached the ages of 60 to 70 must accept that it is better to engage in roles such as advisors and similar activities at most, gradually handing over full-time executive roles like the presidency to a generation that not only aspires but also has more mental and practical capabilities than most of us.

The equations in today’s candidacies, where it seems like everyone is there to thwart each other, in my opinion, are distant from the fundamental philosophy of elections for democracy or religious democracy.

We hope that the situation of elections in the country will improve day by day and we will get closer and closer to the ideals.