Need to Separate Parties' Political Competition From National Interests

The Political Director General of the Ministry of Interior, stressing the need for accurate narrative-building on the country's issues, emphasized the need to separate political competition from national interests and to strengthen party houses in the provinces.

According to the report of Ambassador Arjan Abuzar Kothari, the Director General of Political Affairs of the Ministry of Interior, in a meeting with the House of Parties of Tehran province, emphasized the need to redefine the mission of the parties and the government in the current situation of the country. He asked the parties to convey the scattered issues and demands of the society in a coherent manner.

Kothari stated that the parties should present their critical views considering the existing conditions and strengthening social solidarity and national unity. He considered this unity important from both the domestic and international aspects.

He positively assessed the interaction of the Ministry of Interior with the parties in the past two years and said: The relationship between the government and the parties should not be a relationship of opposition or support, but should be directed towards constructive interaction and problem solving.

The Secretary of the Article 10 Party Commission emphasized the need to prioritize Iran's national unity and interests above any political competition and said: "Separation between political differences and national interests is necessary, considering the current situation, and we must gather around the highest interests of the country."

In another part of his speech, Kothari mentioned the process of changes in the field of parties' activities and said: The process of presenting party ID code has been changed to speed it up, because we know that the absence of this ID creates many problems for parties. He announced the drafting of the new party bill with the participation of experts and political activists and expressed his hope that with the finalization of this bill, we will see an important development in the country's party law, along with the electoral proportionality law.

Forming 80% of party houses across the country

The Director General of Political Affairs of the Ministry of Interior announced the formation of 80% of party houses across the country and emphasized: This issue is included as an evaluation index for governors in their interactions with parties. He mentioned this action as an important step to strengthen interactions.

Pointing to the central role of the House of Parties in Tehran as the front of the country's parties, Kothari emphasized the need to play a different, deeper and more effective role for this institution. He also called for serious interaction between the governors and the houses of the parties in the provinces and stated: If this approach is successful, efforts will be made to pursue this issue in other provinces as well.

In this meeting, Mohsen Eslami, the spokesperson of the country's election headquarters, also pointed to the full preparation for holding the elections and announced that all the necessary preparations including the distribution of tariffs and related items, as well as authentication devices and electronic voting boxes in the governorates and districts have been provided. He also pointed out that all the processes are being implemented in coordination with the central supervision committee of the Islamic Council, and emphasized: Considering the electronic nature of council elections in Tehran and its proportionality, he announced his readiness to update the list of candidates before the last day of voting and emphasized the technical readiness to hold electronic elections in the current conditions.

The spokesperson of the country's election headquarters, pointing out that the Ministry of Interior is responsible for holding the elections, announced that we are waiting for the final determination of the council elections. Stating that there is the necessary preparation for holding elections in the provinces, he emphasized: the process of executive education and election technology is underway and the training of election trainers has been done well.

Referring to holding meetings with parties and the houses of parties, Islami considered these meetings to be effective and stated: For the first time, parties will exercise their political role more than before by presenting electoral lists.

Regarding proportional elections in Tehran, he explained that in this method, a person can no longer be included in several lists and must participate in the electoral competition as a list candidate or an individual candidate, and people can also choose their desired list in a specific way or vote for a combination of list and individual candidates up to the number of seats in the Tehran City Council. According to him, this will make the lists more attractive and increase public participation.