Iran Press/ Africa: Iranian voters will cast ballots for new members of Parliament and the Assembly of Experts on Friday, March 1.
People head to the polls every four years to elect parliamentarians and for the Assembly of Experts every eight years. Around 61 million people out of Iran’s population of over 85 million are eligible to vote. Candidates vying for a seat in the 290-member parliament exceed 15’000, a record figure in Iran’s election history.
Speaking to Iran Press in Kampala, Dr Ssebyala said that in democracies, people elect leaders of their choice and this was ushered in Iran after the 1979 Islamic Revolution.
“In democracies, the people have the right to go and elect the leaders. This is the way you exercise your power as a democracy. Thank you. That you have undergone many, many elections, and you had that right, and you brought up leaders that have been accountable, and served you well. That's why you have not got that fatigue of elections. You trust in elections because you bring good leaders. Do it this time again, and bring good leaders,” he said.
“Turn up in big numbers, like Imam Khamenei always appeals to you to turn in big numbers so that you make the exercise look so legitimate to the people of Iran and to the rest of the world. By going into elections, you exhibit what Imam Khomeini had said, that the secret for the triumph of the revolution will be the secret for its survival by you, the people, participating fully in these elections,” he added.
He said that elections are the survival of the Islamic Revolution.“You, the people, are around to own your revolution, and you are the secret for its triumph like Imam Khomeini said. And you are the secret to its survival. Keep Your Revolution. By participating in all these functions, the people around the world are very, very happy with you. You make them happy because you have preserved this revolution against the will of many, many enemies in the region and the rest of the world. You are giving us an example that you can be Islamic, but as well be democratic,” he noted.
He said that Islamic rule can be pro-people as is in Iran.“There's no contradiction between the two. You have shown this, and it's a lesson to all those who crave Islamic rule, that Islamic rule can be democratic and can be pro-people. We can work together. That's why when you establish a republic, you went and voted in a referendum and you called your country the Islamic Republic,” he said.
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