Iranian Guardian Council ‘s recalculation of votes not to significantly affect results of elections: experts

Despite the steps that Iran’s Guardian Council will take in connection with the recalculation of the votes in the presidential elections on June 12, they will not affect the results of the vote. Mass protest actions are held in Iran against the results of the presidential election. Supporters of Mir Hussein Mousavi declared mass violations in the elections. The presidential election which was held under the organization of the Iranian Ministry of Internal Affaires and under the supervision of the Guardian Council was won by Mahmoud Ahmadinejad who acquired 63.6 percent of the votes. Reacting to the protest actions, the representative of the Guardian Council Abbasali Kyakhudai said at the press conference on June 16 that the Guardian Council was ready to recalculate votes in several urns.

According to the Iranian political analyst Hasan Shariatmadari, who works in Germany, the Guardian Council can take some steps to recalculate the votes, but it will not significantly affect the results of the voting.

Not agreeing with the results of the elections, Mousavi accused Ahmadinejad of falsifying the results of presidential elections. The protest actions have been continuing in Iran since Friday. The protest action on Monday was attended by more than one million people, BBC reported. According to the information received, the action has been the most crowded since the Iranian Islamic Revolution. According to the recent data, 25 demonstrators were killed in clashes with police, as well as more than 100 political activists and former Vice President Mohammad Ali Abtahi were arrested.

Shariatmadari said that the population does not trust in the Guardian Council of Iran. “During previous elections, when people questioned the truthfulness of the declared results of the voting, Iran’s Guardian Council recalculated the results of the voting and changed the results in accordance with the desire of the Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei,” Shariatmadari told Trend News on telephone from Berlin.

According to the doctor of political science, Iranian expert on international affairs Davud Hermides Bavand, if the Guardian Council holds a transparent recalculation of votes, it will become obvious who won the election.

Guardian Council of Iran is one of the Guardian authorities of the country. The Council consists of 12 members. Out of the members of the Guardian Council, six are appointed by the Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, and other six are lawyers. They are presented to the Parliament by the Ministry of Justice, and their authorities are confirmed by the Parliament. The Guardian Council approves all bills of Parliament, as well as the powers of the candidates in the elections held in the country, except municipal elections. The Guardian Council will, in any case act upon the will of Ayatollah Khamenei, experts consider.

Making a speech on June 16, Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei again implicitly called Ahmadinejad “the president elected by people. “Khamenei accused the opposition of “intolerance and disagreement with reality,” Mehr news agency reported.

“Even if the Guardian Council makes some changes to the results of voting at some polling stations, I do not believe that the protesting people will calm down,” said Bavand.

According to Shariatmadari, numerous violations were recorded in the presidential election in Iran, and people do not trust on the Guardian Council. “Proceeding from this, the population requires that the recalculation must be held by the international organizations,” said Shariatmadari.

According to another Iranian expert Hamid Hoaniha, Khamenei’s direct task to the Guardian Council regarding recalcluation of votes shows that the Guardian Council will necessarily deal with recalcluation of votes.

“The Supreme Leader of Iran tasked the Guardian Council to investigate the election results. The official statement by the Iranian Interior Ministry says that the Ministry is ready to cooperate with the candidates with regards to recalcluation. If any doubts about the veracity of the results of the voting, according to the tasks by the Supreme Leader, the Guardian Council is to investigate the issue,” expert Mehr news agency Hoaniha said in a telephone conversation from Tehran.

According to Bavand, in order to pacify the population, the results of the presidential election should be annuled and new elections must be held. “In order to pacify the protesters, the results of the presidential election should be annulled and new presidential elections must be held or the results should be recalcluated,” said Bavand from Tehran on Tuesday. “The current tension in the country is not in favor of the people and the country,” said Bavand.

But, according to Hoaniha, if the Guardian Council holds recalcluation and make some changes to the results of the voting, it will indicate that democracy exists in the country.

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