Democratic and Free Society of East Kurdistan (KODAR) and Free Life Party of Kurdistan (PJAK) have announced their stand regarding the general elections to be held in Iran on February 21 to elect members of the parliament for the 11th term and the Assembly of Experts for the 5th term.

In a written statement released on Sunday, KODAR and PJAK said they would be boycotting the elections as they were just formal and anti-democratic and did not answer the demands of peoples. The statement recalled the demands highlighted by KODAR in the road map for democratization it had presented in 2018.

The joint statement by KODAR and PJAK said they would only approve a democratic election and called for an official recognition of Iranian and Kurdish people’s right to self-determination.

Noting that elections came at a time of conflicts within the reigning system and increasing conflicts and tensions with external powers, the statement pointed out the escalating political turmoil, economic and social crises in the country.

KODAR and PJAK recalled that the people of Iran had voted for a radical change in the previous elections but were faced with fake elections and unreal results every time. “We know that the new parliament to be formed will rely on rejecting the democratic and fair demands of peoples in a cruel manner. It will be a parliament of war and threat but not one of solution.”

The statement called for a “strong response to the atrocity of the Islamic Republic system”.

The statement mentioned the reasons for the boycott and emphasized that the elections will not go beyond being formalism.

KODAR and PJAK remarked that the homogeneous and monic parliament would be established only for the “radicals and conservatives” while the Assembly of Experts would base on fascist principles and reject the candidates that are not conservative and those not close to the government.

The two organisations pointed out the already revealed cases of fraud and said this would turn out in favour of the conservatives. They noted that the Iranian regime also took advantage of the conflicts between tribal, cultural and sectarian structures.

The statement continued; “The Parliament, just like all the other bodies of the system, has no solution project for the problems of the peoples, especially those of the Kurds, proving itself to be just formal.”

Recalling the fact that the parliament had approved no laws for the provinces and self-administration so far, KODAR And PJAK criticised the parliament, as the legislative power, for having become an organisation of violence and profiteering from war.

Remarking that the policy of denial and annihilation, nationalism, sexism and liberalism were promoted and injected into the society like a poison, the statement said; “The parliament is cruel just like the other organizations of the system.”

Emphasising the need to boycott the elections in response to the fact that pro-war politics trampled on democratic principles, the statement said “the single and radical way against the system’s corruption and atrocity is civil disobedience”.

KODAR and PJAK said they would only approve a democratic election and announced that they based on the road map presented in 2018 and that the Kurdish people were committed to their right to self-determination.

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