Elections: Familiarization with supervisory organizations on elections

Given the vital role of the president based on Iran’s Constitution; the president should maintain a number of especial conditions in order to fulfill his crucial role in an appropriate manner. In this episode, we study this topic of importance, and introduce organizations which supervise the presidential elections in Iran.

Given the significance of the executive role of the president in the sacred Islamic system; the qualification of the nominees in any election should be studied by a competent source of expertise, prior to elections; with those who fulfill the set conditions, being approved for nomination. The officials, who organize and supervise elections have on several occasions called on mass media to inform people about the important status of  the president and conditions which nominees should fulfill; which is in turn one of the signs of the competitive and healthy nature of elections in Iran.

Meanwhile, the Secretary of Guardian Council and Chairman of Central Supervisory Board on 12^th Presidential Elections, Ayatollah Ahmad Jannati, has called on the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB) to display and read out the conditions which the 115^th Tenet of Constitution has set for the president. In further remarks, Ayatollah Jannati pointed out that the president should maintain managerial skills; should be able to administer the country; should maintain a good record of conduct; should be prudent, pious, and trustworthy. These facts should be clarified by IRIB for the people.”

According to the 9^th Clause of 110^th Principle, the qualification of presidential nominees should be approved by the Guardian Council prior to elections. Based on this tenet, the Guardian Council directly studies the competence of the presidential hopefuls. On this basis, the 57^th Article of Islamic Republic of Iran Presidential Elections Law notes: The Guardian Council, within five days after the date of receipt of the nominees’ documents, studies their qualifications, presenting its viewpoint in the form of a minute; a copy of which is sent to the Ministry of Interior. If necessary, in accordance to the recognition of the Guardian Council, the duration considered by this article can be extended for five more days, while being announced to the Interior Ministry.

The Islamic Republic of Iran Constitution has enumerated a number of duties for the Guardian Council. The majority of these duties are jointly shouldered by clerics and jurists, while a number of other obligations are exclusively shouldered by clerics. Among the duties of the Guardian Council, three of them are of paramount importance; namely supervision over lawmaking, interpretation of the Constitution, and supervision on elections.

Supervision of elections is defined as a series of activities, which the vetting body carries out in order to be assured of the precise and appropriate enforcement of the law and health of the elections. Based on the 99^th Tenet of the Constitution, the responsibility of supervision of presidential elections is shouldered by the Guardian Council.

According to the 2^nd Article of Guardian Council Presidential Election Supervision Act; the Central Supervisory Board will supervise on all phases of the election, election currents, and measures of the Interior Ministry and executive boards, which leave an effective impact on the elections.

Also, based on the 7^th Article of the same Act, the Guardian Council, in case of proof of irregularities, takes measures to annul or stop elections across the country and/or in some regions, while announcing its viewpoint via the mass media. The standpoint of the Guardian Council in this regard is binding, and no other authority maintains the right to annul or stop the elections.

The 8^th Article of Presidential Election Act also points out that supervision on presidential elections is shouldered by the Guardian Council, throughout all of the phases of elections.

The type of duties and authorities of the Guardian Council and their importance has turned this organization into one of the most important organizations of the sacred Islamic establishment. This organization highly resembles some of the organizations which protect and safeguard the constitution in other countries. Within the constitution of some countries, a number of organizations such as the constitutional court or the constitutional council have been foreseen, which highly resemble each other in regard to structure and type of responsibilities; despite a number of differences between them.

MR/MG