The Iranian Pseudo-election

Last week, Iran held an election for members of its Islamic Consultative Assembly, the country's Parliament or Majlis. The Majlis is something less than a ruling body. To begin with, candidates are screened by a council which answers ultimately to the Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Khamenei. In addition to screening all candidates, the Guardian Council holds veto power over all legislation approved by the Majlis.

Despite this subservience to the supreme Leader, turnout for parliamentary elections has consistently been above 50 percent. Until last Friday that is, when it dropped to 43 percent. In the capital, Tehran, it was only 25 percent, half its previous average.

Khamenei blamed the low turnout on Iran's enemies, claiming they were exaggerating the threat of the coronavirus, but there were in fact a number of more plausible reasons. There is widespread dissatisfaction with the country’s clerical rulers and the state of the economy, suffering under intense sanctions pressure from the United States.

The reformist and moderates bloc, associated with President Hassan Rouhani, faced a highly disappointed public. In 2016, the bloc were given a parliamentary majority on the back of the landmark nuclear deal that offered relief from global sanctions in exchange for curbs on Iran's nuclear program. The bloc had promised greater freedoms and international engagement. But the Americans withdrew from the deal, reimposed sanctions, and the economy went into free fall. According to Zohreh Kharazmi, an assistant professor of American studies at Tehran University, "Many people were not very satisfied with [the bloc's] economic policies and their investment in [the nuclear agreement] rather than in domestic [issues]." The Guardian Council disqualifying thousands of reformist and moderate candidates didn't help.

Conservative voters, on the other hand, were keen to show their support for the regime and their anger at the Americans' assassination of Qassem Suleimani.

The result was a sweep for hardline conservatives, including all Tehran ridings. The victory was soured, however, by the low turnout. If the election illustrated anything it was the frustration, or even hopelessness, of a people victimized by the combination of a corrupt autocratic government and an uncompromising enemy.