Countdown Begins for City Council Elections / Interior Ministry Awaits Green Light

Mohsen Eslami, Secretary and Spokesman of the country's election headquarters, referring to the Ministry of Interior's preparation for the holding of city and village Islamic council elections, said: "All the necessary preparations and equipment for holding the elections have been provided and the country's election headquarters is waiting for the notification of the resolution related to the holding of the elections this year."

In a meeting with the members of the Central Council of the House of Parties of Tehran province, Islami stated: The council elections were supposed to be held on May 11, 1405, and the Ministry of Interior had made all the necessary preparations, including printing tariffs and providing the necessary equipment, but due to the war conditions and the decision to postpone the elections, it was delayed.

He added: In the initial decree, it was stipulated that the elections would be held two months after the end of the war, but due to the attention of the Ministry of Interior and the country's election headquarters, they requested to amend this decree in order to make it possible to hold elections under the existing conditions.

Stating that the country's election headquarters is ready to hold elections this year, Islami clarified: As soon as the resolution is announced, the necessary notifications will be issued and the implementation processes of the elections will be followed.

Pointing to the progress of the election implementation measures, he said: All electronic voting boxes have been installed in the governorates and districts and the tariffs are ready. Even for situations where a problem arises in the field of technology, alternative arrangements have been made.

Stating that the remaining processes are mainly related to candidates' advertisements and the day of voting, Islami said: Considering the experience of holding elections, the voting time should not be postponed to winter and cold weather. Because holding elections in these conditions will be difficult for the provinces.

The Secretary and Spokesperson of the country's Election Headquarters stated, referring to the state of readiness of the provinces: The provinces were asked about their readiness to hold elections, and only one province has stated that it is not ready to hold elections in the current situation. Other provinces have announced their readiness.

Eslami also said about the extension of the activity of councils in case of delay in holding elections: In the law, mechanisms are foreseen for this situation, and in case elections are not held, according to the relevant legal articles, powers have been considered for the interior minister and governors. However, some jurists believe that elections should be held first and then these mechanisms should be used.

He emphasized: The main task of the Ministry of Interior and the country's election headquarters is to hold elections, and all measures are followed with this goal. The Central Supervisory Board also supports this path.

The secretary and spokesperson of the country's election headquarters continued: One of the necessary actions is to update the lists that were submitted to the Tehran governorate before May 11, 1405. Some candidates may have withdrawn or parties may want to change the composition of their lists; Therefore, a specific time will be announced to update the lists.

Eslami said: A system has also been set up to record processes related to electoral lists so that parties can register their information through it and do not need to go in person. Of course, it is also possible to refer to the Tehran governorate.

Eslami said referring to the legal criteria for setting lists: In the proportional elections in Tehran, each candidate cannot appear in several lists and must be introduced in the framework of one electoral list. Also, the general secretary or deputy general secretary of the party plays a key role in setting up the 21-person list, and the number of nominated candidates should not be less than 14.

He added: Our advice to the parties is to provide a complete list of 21 members if possible so that the choice is clearer for the people. If a list nominates fewer candidates, voters can select the remaining candidates from other lists or among individual candidates.

The Secretary and Spokesperson of the country's Election Headquarters, explaining how to determine the candidates of the lists, said: the seats allocated to each list are determined based on the proportional mechanism, and the candidates of that list will be determined based on the amount of votes that each candidate has obtained; Not in alphabetical order.

Eslami continued: In this mechanism, in addition to being on the party list, candidates can advertise for themselves individually and benefit from their independent votes.

Referring to the possibility of holding elections in stages in war conditions, he said: if a decision is made to hold elections in stages, from the point of view of experts, the elections can be held in two stages; In such a way that the provinces that are ready and have no problems in the supply council will hold the elections in the first stage and other provinces will be in the next stage.

In the end, he stressed the readiness of the country's election headquarters to hold council elections and said: "All the necessary measures have been taken in war conditions and we hope that the elections will be held at the right time with the cooperation of the election headquarters, political parties and groups."

He also said that since Shaam announced the election, the Ministry of Interior needs one month to complete the election process.