How Iranian Presidential Elections Work

In the constitution of Islamic Republic of Iran, President of Iran is the highest elected official and responsible for the functions of the executive. The post has significant government influence as it supervises the affairs of the executive branch. The other functions of the Iranian president involves appointing and supervising council of ministers, coordinating government decisions, and selecting government policies to place before the Islamic assembly. Iranian presidential election holds great value in its constitution.

The Iranian president is elected by universal adult suffrage for a four-year term. The candidates for Iranian Presidential election must be above 18 years of age. The most important fact is the candidature of the aspiring candidates must be approved by Council of Guardians consisting of 12 members. The approval process of presidential candidates is a process of checking the power of the candidates as a president and it picks few numbers of eligible candidates.

Election Procedure of Iranian President

The Council of Guardians is directly or indirectly selected by the Supreme Leader of the country. And the candidates who are approved by the Council of Guardians as well as the Supreme Leader are permitted for the run in the Iranian Presidential Elections. Generally, Iranian president is elected with majority of popular votes. Iranian presidential elections may require a runoff election to select a single winner. The tenure of the president is for four years, and the person is also eligible for a second term after the completion of his tenure.

The Iranian President has to take an oath of office on assuming the responsibilities of the post. He has to sign to it at the session of the Islamic Consultative Assembly in the presence of the Head of Judiciary and the members of the Guardian Council. After being elected in the Iranian Presidential elections, the president is responsible to the people, the Supreme Leader and the Islamic Consultative Assembly. The people of Iran have vested their interests in him and he has to live up to their expectations.

The Position of The Iranian President

According to the Constitution of Iran, the Iranian President is the highest authority in the country, second only to the Faqih, or the Supreme Leader. He must be a Shia Muslim and of outstanding political stature. He has the right to approve the nominations of Ministers, sign laws and bring them into force and veto decrees issued by the Council of Ministers.

Special Rules of Iranian Presidential Elections

The person who gets an absolute majority of the polled votes in the Iranian Presidential elections becomes the Iranian President. But in case no one is able to gain a clear majority in the first round, a second round of votes will be taken on the Friday of the following week. Only the two people who have got the highest and the second highest votes in the first round will participate. Sometimes, one of these people tends to withdraw from the elections. In such a case, the two persons with the highest number of votes in the first round will be considered. The supervision of the entire elections is done by the Guardian Council.

The new Iranian President has to be elected within one month of retirement of the outgoing President. The outgoing President continues to perform the duties of the President until the new one assumes office. The Constitution also says that if the President dies ten days prior to the D-day, the elections will be postponed for two weeks. The same will happen if the candidate dies between the first and second rounds of voting of the Iranian Presidential elections.