Speaking in a press conference in Elections HQ on Monday afternoon, Interior Minister Abdolreza Rahmani Fazli maintained that he and his team had closely monitored the process of vote counting since day one and all data were first passed through their control systems; “no kind of manipulation or interference was spotted and as such there was no need for re-inspection of the poll tallies in any part of the country. The results of the election actually bear testament to a fair and clean election,” he said.
“According to the latest results of Tehran elections, all the first 30 candidates have found their way into the Parliament,” he said, adding all candidates made sure to observe the law, even those who were disqualified submitted their complaints through legal channels.
He maintained that vote counting was all done on Sunday, but obtaining confirmation from monitoring committees and proceedings of the session would take some time; “almost 99 percent of these steps have been completed so far,” he added.
Voter turnout in Tehran was 50 percent and 62 percent in the whole country, which is actually a very good participation rate in current situation, he said.
“Now it is up to representatives of the 10th Parliament to pursue people’s demands and priorities that are economic boom, country's development, and unity,” he said.
To a question about accusing the Reformist list as being ‘English’, he explained “we consider all candidates who took the legal path in participating in the elections as entitled to their rights within the framework of the System and will help them along the legal path to achieve their objectives.”
“Relevant organizations have the responsibility to investigate into the cases of those accused of illegal cooperation with other countries, but as a whole we must avoid creating a new political polarization and instead focus on fostering unity,” he added.
Rahmani Fazli further maintained that no announcement has been made for any kind of celebration following the victory of the Reformist list in Tehran.
He went on to add that, “there have been concerns about possibility of interference on the results of the elections, but let me tell you this, the results themselves are the actual proof that no interference has taken place; otherwise, these candidates [Reformists] would not have made it into the Parliament.”
“Iranian people took to the scene to participate in the elections according to the arguments by the candidates with all different political leanings. Their votes are the result of what the candidates and their supporters have promised. The most important thing for us now is to be at the service of the Revolution and allow our political maturity to be in line with the interests of the System,” he said.
MS/LIVE