RNA – Speaking during his jurisprudence class at Qom’s Grand Mosque, Grand Ayatollah Naser Makarem-Shirazi referred to Iran’s May 19th presidential and city councils' elections and said, “The elections must be held in a passionate and an enemy-defeating manner. The enemies are waiting to see the extent of the people’s presence at the ballot box so that they can decide how much pressure to impose. The elections will have an affect in the perspectives of both our allies and friends.”
The revered source of emulation noted the duties of the people and the candidates in the election and said that elections in the Islamic Republic must be held within the red lines of Islam and explained, “In the United States’ presidential elections, the candidates engaged in immoral behaviour, lies and slander against each other out because they don’t believe in any red lines and say that the end justifies the means. Truly, the American election is a scandal to the Western world.”
Ayatollah Makarem-Shirazi said that we say that Iran is an Islamic Republic – meaning we say that both the people and the candidates have responsibilities and the candidates must avoid giving false promises and not deceive the people. The candidates must not say they want to achieve positions of power and authority at any cost.
He said that we must think about the Day of Judgement and realize that the people don’t like lies, false promises and deception and in order to achieve their goals, the candidates must not damage others.
“Unfortunately, some destroy the system in order to advance their careers and undermine everything. They say ‘if such a person becomes the president, the country will become like Sudan.’ This isn’t a correct manner of speaking as the honour of the Islamic system of government must not be attacked,” he said.
The teacher in the Islamic Seminary of Qom asked, “Is it justice if the Islamic system is undermined to be accepted in the elections?” and said the elections are a circular test for the candidates and the people and the people should not involve themselves in factionalism but rather they should vote for the most competent candidate.
“The test for the candidates is whether they are breaking the red lines of morality and religion in order to achieve positions of authority,” he explained.
Ayatollah Makarem-Shirazi added that the Iranian nation is a discerning and vigilant nation and we are hopeful that the people and the candidates will come out of the test of the elections with pride and dignity and we also pray that the elections be held in a healthy manner in every aspect.
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