Rouhani Voices Concern over GC Sweeping Disqualifications

Now that Iran’s landmark nuclear agreement with world powers is relatively secured after the implementation of the JCPOA, Rouhani’s administration is expected to shift focus on domestic issues. As President Hassan Rouhani noted in a presser on the Implementation Day, the outmost domestic achievement for his administration would be a large turnout in the upcoming twin elections for the parliament and the Assembly of Experts. That, he believes, needs a fair competition. Earlier the same day however, the Guardian Council said only about 40 percent of all candidates had been deemed eligible. When asked in the same press conference about the massive disqualification of over 55 percent of parliamentary hopefuls, he said he would use all his authority to pursue the issue.

On Thursday, in remarks addressed to a gathering of Iranian governors in an Interior Ministry auditorium, Hassan Rouhani expressed concern over the large number of candidates deemed ineligible by the Guardian Council which he indirectly accused of being more catholic than the Pope himself when referring to how the first Shiite Imam Ali (PBUH) chose his own governors. He said such moves could undermine the vote's legitimacy.

Rouhani was warmly applauded when he suggested the public would see through steps that could amount to favouritism, saying it would dent the ballot's competitiveness.

“The Islamic Consultative Assembly [Iranian parliament] is the house of the nation, not a house for one political group,” he told his audience of provincial governors.

Rouhani seeks to build momentum for domestic reforms, a prospect more likely if there are fewer hardliner conservative MPs to block his legislation.

In pushing for a rethink over the exclusions, Rouhani drew an analogy between parliamentary representation for Jews, Christians, Zoroastrians and other religious minorities in Iran, against larger groups.

“They are 10,000, 20,000,” he said. “Yet there is a faction in this country with seven or 10 million,” he added, alluding to reformists.

Only 30 reformists from 3,000 applicants were approved, according to the movement's officials. Though those disqualified hopefuls can appeal to the Guardian Council, recent remarks made by the Supreme Leader have shattered hopes for a remarkable shift in the vetting procedures. The Supreme Leader said even those who are against the government should participate in the election as voters who care for their country but such people should not be allowed to enter the Iranian parliament, called the Majlis.

President Hassan Rouhani says he has asked Vice President Eshaq Jahangiri as well as the interior and intelligence ministers, who often assist the Guardian Council in fact-finding on candidates, to consult further, regarding the rejections.