The staged presidential election of the Islamic Republic took place on Friday, June 28th. Although the results have not yet been announced at the time of this report, evidence suggests that the vote count has been manipulated to ensure the election moves to a second round, where the desired candidate of Khamenei and the IRGC will emerge victorious. Reports from across Iran and globally indicate that the regime’s extensive efforts to draw people to the polls to elect the 14th subordinate president were met with widespread indifference from the awakened citizens of Iran. According to reports, polling stations were empty. Numerous families of victims, the mothers of the Jina Revolution in various cities of Kurdistan, political prisoners, labor, civil, and political activists across Iran and abroad, the Coordinating Council of Teachers’ Unions, student associations, the Workers’ Syndicate, and the Coordination Council of the Oil and Gas Industry’s Protesting Workers in over 115 companies boycotted and called for a boycott of the staged presidential election. They urged freedom-loving and fighting citizens to stay home and avoid the polling stations.
Examples of boycott calls include:
– Many project workers in Asaluyeh and southern Iran issued a statement on Thursday, June 27th, boycotting the regime’s election show. They wrote, “We have no hope for solving workers’ problems through the representatives of the capitalist class and rely solely on united workers’ struggles to achieve our rights.”
– The Coordinating Council of Iranian Teachers’ Trade Associations stated that elections are irrelevant to them and that they will pursue their demands through efforts to establish independent organizations and strengthen popular institutions.
– Several revolutionary women in Kurdistan issued a statement calling on citizens across Iran, including Kurdistan, to boycott the regime’s sham election.
– A group of grieving mothers in Kurdistan issued a bold statement, saying, “As a group of justice-seeking mothers, we will boycott the theatrical presidential election of Iran.”
– Students from Tehran universities issued a statement on Thursday, June 27th, boycotting the regime’s sham election. Part of their statement read, “However, not voting alone is not enough. Not voting can be effective if it is accompanied by thinking about an alternative to the current situation and fighting for its realization.”
Numerous victims’ families, especially grieving mothers, officially called on people not to vote. Gohar Eshghi, the mother of Sattar Beheshti, a blogger who died in prison, a mother who removed her hijab in solidarity with the daughters of Iran during the “Woman, Life, Freedom” movement, referred to the election as an “empty show” and said that participating in “this evil show” would strengthen the foundations of the vile regime. Abroad, Iranian opponents of the Islamic Republic held protest and exposé gatherings in front of polling stations.
Against the backdrop of tens of millions disillusioned with the Islamic Republic and widespread boycott activities, polling stations in cities and villages across Iran and abroad remained empty. Reporters from Balochistan reported that people in Balochistan did not participate in the elections, leaving polling stations empty. Reports, photos, and videos from polling stations in cities such as Khash, Saravan, Zahedan, Chabahar, Mehrestan, and other electoral districts in Balochistan showed that these polling stations were completely deserted.
Not only did people avoid polling stations in cities and villages across Iran, but courageous political prisoners also issued statements and notices boycotting the sham election. According to information received, all political prisoners in Ghezel Hesar prison in Karaj boycotted the election and refused to vote. In the women’s section of Evin prison, 67 political prisoners abstained from voting.
The ludicrous presidential election on June 28th was a battleground across Iran between the regime’s leaders, officials, and mercenaries and the revolutionary, protesting, and fighting citizens of the country, where the people achieved a remarkable victory. The achievements of this intense confrontation will be utilized in the continuation of the revolutionary and freedom-seeking struggles of the Iranian people.
Undoubtedly, new fronts in political and class struggles will emerge. Through these struggles, mass and party organizations will gradually form and strengthen; reliable and credible leaders will be recognized; a revolutionary alternative will take shape, and the fate of the Islamic Republic and the subsequent government will be determined. Leftist and radical forces must define their duties based on the needs of this predictable process.
