Leader: Elections Belong to the Nation

Date: 09 January 2016 - 21:27

News ID: ۲۲۵۲۲

TEHRAN (Dispatches) -- Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei Saturday urged all citizens, including those who do not approve of him, to take part in next month's parliamentary and Assembly of Experts elections.
While the electorate will pick 290 lawmakers on February 26 they will the same day select 88 members for the Assembly, a powerful committee of clerics that monitors the leader's work.
The Assembly has the power to dismiss the leader but its more likely and most crucial role will be in picking his successor.
In a speech to thousands in Tehran, Ayatollah Khamenei drew attention to the importance of polling day.
"As before, we insist everyone, even those who don't believe in the system and the leadership, come to the ballots, as the election belongs to the nation, and the system," Ayatollah Khamenei said.
The Assembly of Experts is Iran's highest clerical body. Its members, like would-be lawmakers, are screened before the ballot, and Ayatollah Khamenei signaled their significant role.
"That day, when the current leader is not in this world, this committee should choose a leader who holds the key to the movement of this revolution," he said.
"Depending on the composition of the assembly they may choose a leader that stands up to the enemy's attacks, trust in God and continue the path of Imam (Khomeini)," Ayatollah Khamenei said, referring to the late founder of the Islamic Republic.
"Or there is a possibility that they may choose someone with different characteristics as the leader," Ayatollah Khamenei added.
A record 12,000 candidates have nominated themselves for parliament.
Candidates for the Assembly of Experts include prominent centrists such as President Hassan Rouhani and former president Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani.
In his Saturday speech, the Leader said contrary to French and Russian revolutions which derailed and collapsed, Iran’s Islamic Revolution has managed to live up to its principles.
"Iran’s Islamic Revolution is the only revolution that has managed to maintain its existence based on basic principles and ideals,” Ayatollah Khamenei said.
The Leader also said the enemies have left no stone unturned over the past decades to destroy Iran’s 1979 Islamic Revolution.
In a meeting with a group of people from the holy city of Qom, Ayatollah Khamenei said the Islamic Republic faces a vast enemy front comprised of the U.S., the Israeli regime and Takfiri elements, including the Daesh terror group.
"Enemies have focused all their attempts on uprooting the flourishing tree of the Islamic Revolution,” said Ayatollah Khamenei, stressing that the country should make all efforts to foil such plots.