In the wake of the tragic death of Iranian President Raisi in a helicopter crash in Azerbaijan last month, it has been announced that presidential elections will be held in Iran on Friday, June 28. Despite this news, a research institute based in the Netherlands, GAMAAN, conducted a survey which revealed that over 65% of Iranian people do not plan to participate in the upcoming elections. Only around 22% of the participants stated that they will vote, while 12% remain undecided.
The survey, which included more than 77,000 Iranian residents, focused on literate individuals over the age of 19, representing 90% of the country’s adult population. This is consistent with previous surveys conducted by GAMAAN on elections to the Islamic Council, which found that over three quarters of the Iranian people did not intend to participate. In fact, about 75% expressed a desire for the overthrow of the Islamic Republic.
Following the parliamentary elections held last year, participation rates fell even lower than expected at around 41%, marking a low point in the history of the Islamic Republic. Reasons cited for not voting included opposition to the entire Islamic Republic government system and lack of confidence in current leadership. Additionally, many were disqualified from running or remained unaware about election dates due to government restrictions and media censorship.
These findings highlight complexities and nuances within Iran’s political landscape leading up to these elections. With respect to recent events such as President Raisi’s death and its potential connection to power struggles within government ranks, more than half of respondents agreed with this notion according to GAMAAN’s survey results.
Overall, it seems that despite efforts towards democracy and free leadership selection process
