Guardian Council Changes Presidential Law

The Guardian Council, which vets the candidates, has notified the Ministry of Interior, which is responsible for managing the election, that it has added new conditions for candidates this election. This includes that candidates will have to be between the ages of 40 and 75, a ruling that will exclude candidate Mohammad-Javad Azari Jahromi. A second condition is that candidates cannot have a criminal history, which will exclude several potential candidates, such as Reformist Mostafa Tajzadeh, and two female candidates, Faezeh Hashemi Rafsanjani and Shahindokht Molaverdi. The Guardian Council had been trying to change the Presidential law for more than six months but has been blocked by the Parliament. 

Read more at Eghtesad


Continue reading

Jahangiri Appeal: Vote or Surrender your City

In a Clubhouse q-and-a, First Vice-President Eshaq Jahangiri encouraged all Iranians to vote (while being ambiguous about which election – Presidential or city council) saying “citizens know each other by the ballot box, and if they do not participate, the city may fall”. On the question of whether Jahangiri himself would run for President, he said “I never said I wouldn’t run, but I am a subordinate”, meaning that he cannot make the decision without the approval of more senior members of the government. The Clubhouse session was hosted by Mohammad-Javad Azari Jahromi, who invited Jahangiri to Clubhouse, and attended by senior nuclear negotiator, Ali Akbar Salehi. 

Read the full run down of the Clubhouse session at IRNA

Continue reading

Parliament rejects President Law

In the latest iteration of the attempts to change the Presidential Law, the Parliament has again rejected the amendments, specifically the condition that would restrict Presidential candidates to be between the ages of 40-75. The law was in part interpreted as being aimed at preventing Mohammad-Javad Azari Jahromi, 38, from running in this Presidential election, and its rejection by the parliament was followed by speech by Azari Jahromi in which he commented on the election for the first time. The Parliament also rejected a condition which would attempt to define the Constitutional concept of “statesman (rajol-e siasi)”, which the Parliament rejected as not suitable for Common Law. The second condition is sensitive as the term has historically been interpreted as excluding women from running for president, an issue now in dispute. The law has led to a significant struggle between the Parliament and the Guardian Council which forced the intervention of the Expediency Council earlier this week. In a sign that the Guardian Council is unhappy with the result, a letter sent by dissenting members of Parliament to Ayatollah Janati was published, stating that since the Guardian Council vets candidates for election, they should have a greater role in deciding on the law.

Read the report on the Parliament on Entekhab
Watch Azari Jahromi’s comments on the election at Donya-ye Eqtesad
Read the letter to Ayatollah Janati at Khabaronline

Continue reading

Changes to Presidential Law pass Guardian Council

The Guardian Council today announced that it had approved amendments to the proposed changes to the Presidential Law. A proposed change to the law, aimed at limiting Presidential candidates to between the ages of 40 and 70, was rejected by the Parliament on Sunday. The law has been interpreted by some as aimed at keeping Mohammad-Javad Azari Jahromi from running this year. The amendments will now go to the Expediency Council to negotiate with the Parliament about the law’s future.

Read more on Fars

Continue reading