Iran International
Supporters of Mohammad-Bagher Ghalibaf and Saeed Jalili are fiercely blaming each other for the defeat of the so-called ‘revolutionary front’ in the elections against Masoud Pezeshkian backed by reformists.
Ghalibaf, who came third in the first round of the snap elections with nearly one-third of Jalili's votes, was eliminated, with Jalili representing 'revolutionaries' in the final round. He urged his supporters to vote for Jalili in the July 5 runoff to avoid dividing the votes of the 'revolutionary front.'
However, some of Ghalibaf’s supporters and campaign members openly endorsed Pezeshkian instead of Jalili who they said had no executive experience or viable plans for running the country.
Jalili’s supporters on social media accuse Ghalibaf of “hypocritically” announcing that he would vote for Jalili but refusing to mobilize his campaign capabilities including social media networks in his support.
Journalist Abdolrahim Ansari who supported Jalili scolded Ghalibaf in a tweet on Sunday telling him that he made no attempt to help Jalili by shifting his votes to him.
“We must not allow their treachery to be forgotten … This revolution should no longer be harmed by mudslinging and division,” he wrote.
Jalili and Ghalibaf’s supporters had fought an intensive media and social media battle for months, particularly before the parliamentary elections of March 1 during which both sides extensively made allegations of corruption and fraud against each other.
Since the announcement of his defeat, some Jalili supporters have also defiantly slammed the ultra-hardliner election watchdog, the Guardian Council, whose members are appointed by Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.
They say the Council paved the way for Pezeshkian’s victory by pitching him against at least four hardliners and one conservative, causing the revolutionary front’s votes to be divided between the candidates.
Mohammad Mannan-Raisi, a lawmaker from Qom charged that the make-up of the approved candidates could not have been more “in reformists’ favor” to guarantee their candidates’ win.
Jalili supporters’ anger against the Guardian Council was also reflected in a tweet on the day of the runoff elections by Mohammad-Mehdi Fatemi-Sadr, a well-known Qom-based cleric and ardent Jalili supporter.
The Guardian Council should expect repercussions, he tweeted in a highly defiant language. Such open defiance of the Guardian Council could be interpreted as defiance of Khamenei. However, these hardliners never mention that the Council barred key candidates in the 2021 election, all but guaranteeing a win for their favorite man, Ebrahim Raisi.
Jalili who is not an official member of any political party or group was backed by the ultrahardliner Paydari (Steadfastness) Party led by Sadegh Mahsouli, a business tycoon and interior minister under populist Mahmoud Ahmadinejad as well as the recently established Jebhe-ye Sobh Iran. The latter, often referred to as MASAF, is a political group led by hardliner politician and theorist Ali-Akbar Raefipour.
The Paydari (Steadfastness) Party has its appendages in all government institutions including the parliament where their members formed a very influential minority in the past few years. They have often taken a leading role amid the weak presence of established conservative and reformist parties.
Paydari and MASAF are believed to have considerable influence among the Basij militia of the Revolutionary Guards (IRGC). The top brass of the IRGC, however, are widely claimed to have been behind Ghalibaf, a former commander of the IRGC’s air force.
Many of the top figures in the Paydari Party were Ahmadinejad allies who denounced him following his eleven-day standoff with Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei in 2011. They and other Khamenei loyalists dubbed Ahmadinejad and those who remained loyal to him “deviant” after the incident.
“It’s still the beginning. We will not let you be until we disgrace the Paydari grouplet and MASAF. You and your group are dangerous for the Revolution,” a Ghalibaf supported tweeted Monday.
The inauguration of new presidents in the Islamic Republic typically occurs in early August, although no specific date is set. However, since there is currently no incumbent in office, there is some debate about when the new administration will officially begin.
The only timeframe that applies in case of the death of a president is 50 days until a new one should be elected. Raisi died in a helicopter crash on May 19, and the election was held on June 28 and the runoff on July 5.
There are several steps until the president-elect can be called Iran’s President.
After the election, the Guardian Council should confirm the validity of the results, ensuring that the election process followed legal precepts. Then, it issues a certificate of appointment for the president-elect. This document should be signed by the members of the Council and then sent to the Supreme Leader, who would announce the date for Tanfiz, when he officially endorses the election results and ratifies the new president. It is followed by Tahlif, or the swearing-in ceremony, which usually happens within a few days.
During the Tanfiz, Ali Khamenei hands over a decree, known as the "decree of confirmation" or "decree of validation", to the president-elect, formally recognizing him as the legitimate president. Without the Supreme Leader's approval, the president does not have the authority to assume office. During Tahlif, the newly elected president takes an oath before the Parliament (Majlis) in the presence of the head of the judiciary and the members of the Guardian Council, promising to uphold the constitution and faithfully execute his duties as the head of state. Both ceremonies are essential in the transition of presidential power, ensuring both legal and symbolic legitimacy for the incoming president.
Mojtaba Yousefi, a member of the parliament's presiding board, said this week the inauguration ceremony for Pezeshkian is scheduled for August 4 or 5. The president will then have 15 days to present his proposed ministers to the parliament for a vote of confidence, which is reportedly set to be held on September 5.
There is controversy about why the parliament, dominated by hardliners whose candidates lost to Pezeshkian, would not vote on the proposed cabinet sooner, given that fact that the country does not have a president and is run by interim Mohammad Mokhber, Raisi’s first vice president.
According to Abbas-Ali Kadkhodaei, the former spokesman of the Guardian Council, until the new government assumes office, members of the former cabinet can make decisions or appointments that could have financial implications for the next government.
This comes despite Mokhber’s directive in June that called on all executive bodies to “refrain from any changes to organizational structures, personnel reassignments, transfer of government property, implementation of new regulations, changes in tariffs and fees, and any actions outside the rules and regulations until the establishment of the fourteenth government.”
However, Kadkhodaei noted that unless there is a specific legal provision that states otherwise, the incumbent officials can make such decisions, implying that Mokhber’s directive may not be binding. “These are customary practices and have never been subject to legal debate,” he said.
Hossein Mirmohammad Sadeghi, a former lawmaker, said that there is no regulation for setting a date for the vote of confidence on the new cabinet, explaining that such dates are primarily based on considerations of different factors. These include the parliament's summer recess ending on July 21st and upcoming calendar events, like the observance of the Shiite mourning period, Ashura, on July 14th in Iran.
Hamid Aboutalebi, a former deputy chief of staff for political affairs of the office of Iran’s president under Hassan Rouhani, wrote a commentary on his X account on Monday, stressing the legal necessity of holding the endorsement ceremony as soon as possible. He said the president-elect should assume office by the 50th day after the death of the incumbent. He argued that according to the constitution, until the new government is formed, the parliament cannot impeach ministers or pass a vote of no confidence, leaving the body with no oversight capability in case of negligence or errors by the ministers.
Aboutalebi said this would present a serious constitutional challenge if the country would be without an incumbent president at the end of the 50-day period and would be governed by an unelected first vice president, with ministers who are not subject to parliamentary oversight.
