Hossein Mohammadi

The eight Majlis elections held on March 14th have been, in the words of Gholam ‎Hossein Karbaschi, head of the Kargozaran-e Sazandegi’s [Servants of Construction’s] ‎election committee, “unprecedented in the 29 years after the 1979 revolution.” In an ‎interview with Rooz, Karbaschi argues that the public must not allow “for a segment of ‎society’s political forces to be eliminated from the political scene.” Below is an excerpt ‎from this interview [which is done the day before the elections].‎

Rooz (R): What happened that, despite their initial criticism over the elections, reformist ‎are now inviting the public to participate in them?‎

Gholam Hossein Karbaschi (GHK): Because they believe in a truly – not symbolic – ‎democratic government, reformists have always believed that they should participate in ‎elections and be present in the government, as much as they can. In these elections – ‎which I think have been unprecedented in the past 29 years – there was seemingly a ‎desire among some officials to disqualify an unprecedented number of candidates. This ‎demonstrates the desire to fully eliminate a group from amidst the political forces in the ‎country. Because of this, I think we should not allow this plan to be implemented at any ‎cost. These are the reasons why reformists insist that the people should participate in the ‎elections. Moreover, the past experience of reformists has shown that they should shy ‎away from emotional reactions. In politics one has to foil the plans of one’s opponents ‎and advance one’s own plans. ‎

R: Do you really think that reformists can send a considerable number of representatives ‎to the Majlis? ‎

GHK: If people participate in large numbers, reformists will have a considerable number ‎of representatives in the Majlis. Currently, reformists and candidates affiliated with the ‎reformist coalition number at 170. And even though many of them are not prominent and ‎well-known figures, they are people who are in the reformist camp and can stop their ‎opponents’ plans. But this is conditional on people’s wide and serious participation. We ‎have to note that in the fifth and sixth Majlis elections, where participation rates topped ‎‎60 percent, we saw a considerable number of reformists in the Majlis. However, when ‎around 50 percent of people participated in the seventh Majlis elections, there were fewer ‎reformist lawmakers. If we compare the composition of the Majlis with participation ‎rates, we realize that we must do something that a considerable number of people ‎participate in the elections. ‎

R: Do you think you can attract the public to vote for the lesser-known candidates on the ‎reformist slate? ‎

GHK: We know that the other side successfully barred prominent and well-known ‎reformist candidates from the elections. But what we expect from the public is to vote ‎for the remaining reformist candidates who have managed to get in. In this round, we ‎have been plagued with limited resources while the other side engaged in heavy ‎advertising using the state television … . In conclusion, the playing field is not fair, but ‎we are optimistic that people will participate. ‎

R: Are you worried about the integrity of the elections? ‎

GHK: Certainly. The administration of the elections is riddled with problems. I hope that ‎officials will protect people’s votes. ‎