Elections Meaningless As Long As Guardian Council Exists: Ex-Iranian President

A former Iranian president has called on reformists to refrain from participating in the upcoming elections until the clerical establishment dismantles the hardline Guardian Council.

Mohammad Khatami conceded that even the presence of a few representatives in the parliament is "useless."

"Let us for once stand beside the people and say that we will not participate in the elections as long as the Guardian Council exists," he said in a leaked audio. 

Khatami is heard saying this in an audio file that was leaked on Thursday, May 9. In the audio recording, he discusses issues around the parliamentary elections in a meeting with reformists. 

Khatami, who was Iran's president from 1997 to 2005, is heard saying in the audio: "Until now we begged and we pleaded 'Give us three seats in the parliament. Please change your behavior a little bit.' But we saw that it was of no use."

The Guardian Council of the Islamic Republic is a constitutionally mandated 12-member body with the final say on legislation passed by the parliament and overall elections. The Guardian Council must qualify all candidates to run in the elections. 

The council does not answer to anybody. Besides, in the past few decades, it has used its power to disqualify most reformist and independent candidates, as well as critics of the government and the Supreme Leader.

As a result, voter turnout in the country has plunged rapidly. 

According to official statistics released by the Interior Ministry of the Islamic Republic, 59 percent of qualified voters refused to cast votes in the last elections to the parliament and the Assembly of Experts in March despite the government's extensive campaign to encourage people to vote.

After the elections, IranWire obtained a leaked audio file in which former Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif revealed alleged corruption in the elections. According to Zarif, two former top officials of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) orchestrated the March 1 elections, and the two main hardliner candidates were "corrupt and liars."