Lawmakers In Iran Not Representing People In Parliament: MP

An Iranian lawmaker says majority of the people do not have their real representatives in parliament, and the Islamic Republic is facing a crisis in this regard.

In an interview with ILNA news agency on Monday, Alireza Beigi said, “When the parliament speaks apart from the will, demand and interests of people and resists the transparency of votes, it cannot be transformative and change the course [of politics].”

According to official statistics, in the last parliamentary elections in Iran, majority of those eligible to participate boycotted the vote.

Beigi who represents Tabriz in parliament also talked about the disqualifications in the presidential and parliamentary elections, saying "In the elections, some assume people cannot decide, and we have to make decisions for them... We don't want to accept people are aware."

The Islamic Republic’s Guardian Council, a conservative constitutional body decides who can run for national office and usually disqualified most of the candidates.

Alireza Beigi emphasized that neither in economy nor in politics, "any role has been delegated to people".

During the nationwide protests following the death of Mahsa Amini in police custody in mid-September, parliament members issued a statement calling for the execution of the protesters. The statement was met with many negative reactions, including Mowlavi Abdolhamid, the outspoken Sunni religious leader in Zahedan, southeast of Iran.

Recently, a video on social media showed a young man in Ilam province west of Iran, telling a lawmaker that people do not want the Islamic Republic and the MPs should raise this issue in the parliament.