AhlulBayt News Agency (ABNA): The president called Feb 21, when the 11th round of Majlis elections are going to be held, as an important day and called on all the organisers of the election to concentrate their efforts on holding competitive elections and not to allow lines of voters be short.
Speaking at the Convention of Governor-Generals and Governors across the country on Monday, Dr Hassan Rouhani stressed, "One must not turn away from the ballot box and today is the day that we have to vote. I have written the necessary letters, but we must all strive to make the election more competitive”.
Stating that “people must be assured that their vote is not manipulated and that participation, supervision, health and security of the elections is everybody’s duty,” he added, "If some say the next parliament is 100 percent theirs, they should at least let a competition take place”.
In another part of his speech, Dr Rouhani also referred to the postponement of some bills and acts of the Majlis, expressing the important role of these bills and acts in safeguarding Iran's national interests and foiling the enemies' plots, adding, "Keeping the government’s bill and the parliament’s act on ice is unacceptable and it will disrupt our banking relations with the world”.
The president emphasised, "National interest must not be harmed with slogans to let Trump and the White House terrorists cut Iran’s relations with world banks".
He continued, "Our situation today is different from any time else. We are now nearing the thirty-seventh national election. The first election began in March 1979 with a referendum, but some don’t like the word ‘referendum’. Our system is based on referendum”.
The President also went on to say, "We must all be guardians of Islam and republic, which means we must defend the public’s satisfaction, opinion and demands”.
“The constitution is the basis of our work, without exception, the legitimacy of all of us comes from the constitution, and the legitimacy of the constitution and all laws and regulations come from the votes of the people. Of course, within the framework of Islamic standards, which we are all committed to,” added the President.
Dr Rouhani added, "The biggest threat to democracy and its national sovereignty is when elections take the form of formalities and candidates are chosen somewhere else and then people take to the ballot box”.
He continued, "It was a great danger that threatened our nation. Why did people staged revolution? One of the reasons for our people's revolution was for them to rule their own future, national sovereignty was one of the foundations of our revolutionary movement”.
“It is very important that people feel they have to choose from among a range of candidates. This is called an election, now if everyone in every constituency has different tastes, thoughts, religions and ethnicities, he chooses his candidate,” he said.
President Rouhani also said, "Have no doubt that we get our power from people’s presence. The power that is always there is people’s presence. Let us not forget that as we have to stay together on hard days, we have to be together on the day of elections”.
“The administrators of elections and the enforcer of the law are the Ministry of Interior, governor-general and governors,” he continued.
He added, "The Constitution, out of cautiousness, has designated a body for monitoring the elections, but now things have changed and the monitoring body has become the administrator and the administrator has become the logistic body”.
Dr Rouhani added, "The assassination of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) by some global terrorists like the White House, Zionism and some reactionaries in the Arab region was due to the fact that Iran has begun moving towards economic growth”.
The President of the Islamic Republic of Iran also went on to say, "Enemies are trying to tell the world that Iran is an isolated island and we must disappoint them”.
Dr Rouhani said, "It is a matter of national interest and we must all stand together and not let Trump succeed. We should not let the White House terrorists succeed, they are assassinating Iran's relations with the world's banks. We have to be careful. They are assassinating people's trust with the system”.
“Let us have trust in people and tell them that our system is not a single-party, communist or monarchy one, and parties are free in this country,” added the President, adding that, "Our nation will not let America win”.
He said, "I believe that elections, especially parliamentary elections, are crucial, but what is more important is preserving social capital”.
Dr Rouhani also addressed the people and said, "Do not turn your back on the ballot box; today is the day to go to the ballot box”.
“Participation, supervision, safety and security of the elections and vitality in the society are everybody’s duty,” said the President of the Islamic Republic of Iran.
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source : President.ir
Monday
27 January 2020
12:23:23 PM
1005935
The president called Feb 21, when the 11th round of Majlis elections are going to be held, as an important day and called on all the organisers of the election to concentrate their efforts on holding competitive elections and not to allow lines of voters be short.