Former Tehran mayor Gholamhossein Karbasi likened mass registration for Iran's presidential election to “stand-up comedy.”
“They are the ones who are being held accountable,” said Karbasi, a senior official in the centrist, reformist Construction Party. [the government] He accused the Kremlin of “turning the country's main democratic symbol into a stand-up comic” as sham elections were being held to appoint a person ultimately chosen by the country's top leader.
Karbasi, a close aide to former President Mohammed Khatami, was arrested and jailed on corruption charges in what The New York Times described as “widely seen among moderates as a politically motivated attack by conservatives and hard-liners” that was seen as an attempt to stifle Khatami's reform policies.
Reformist theorist Saeed Hajarian echoed Karbasi's sentiments, expressing concern over the superficial nature of the candidate registration for the upcoming presidential elections.
As for X, he criticized the lack of substance behind the spectacle: “A neat suit, a few slow steps, the presentation of an ID card, a few camera flashes… and that's it! They don't talk about a coherent plan, or the potential members of an effective cabinet.”
The debacle follows the sudden death of President Ebrahim Raisi in a helicopter crash on May 19, which prompted the current general election, scheduled for June 28, to be brought forward. Registration began on Thursday and ended on Monday with almost 90% of candidates From a government supporter.
