Iran perverts democratic process to promote despotism - opinion

• Author: REZA PARCHIZADEH
• Published date: 15 June 2021
• Date: 15 June 2021

But the truth is that the Islamic Republic is one of the most authoritarian regimes in human history. Why, then, in spite of all these colorful elections, the Islamic Republic is an inherently authoritarian regime? The answer is that the regime is consciously taking advantage of a democratic process to reproduce authoritarianism.

From the very beginning of the Islamic Revolution in 1979, the leaders of the regime constituted the function of elections in Iran as a demonstration of public support for the political interests of a particular class. Accordingly, unlike the free world, elections in Iran are not intended to lead to a change of leadership, but to the bolstering of the ruling class.

To maintain the illusion of elections, the regime engineers the process in three main stages and many more sub-phases. 1) The first stage is the Guardian Council, where only the candidates endorsed by the Supreme Leader and the Revolutionary Guards are approved. 2) The second stage is government and media propaganda in the domestic and international scene, showcasing the elections as free, fair, competitive and influential in the affairs of the nation. 3) The third stage is vote-rigging, in which the designated candidate of the Supreme Leader and the IRGC is announced as having received the highest vote.

Whoever comes out of the regime's ballot box, their main task is to advance the interests of those in power, which almost always conflicts with the interests of the people outside of power. As such, elections in Iran at best do not change the situation, and under normal circumstances only worsen the conditions. Elections, ideally, are supposed to ensure continuity of change – not maintenance of the status quo.

However, there is no circulation of power in Iran. The Islamic Republic is a totalitarian oligarchy ruled by two Islamist clerical and military components that are almost inseparably intertwined. By instituting an authoritarian constitution and taking over almost all the financial resources and coercive forces of the nation, these two have established themselves in key positions...