Elections; Replacing the Will of the Shah Instead of the National Will

Irdc.ir: Elections in the Pahlavi regime was a topic which was done only in the form of a show and in order to establish a dictatorship. Based on the observations of Henderson, who was the US ambassador to Iran during the Pahlavi era, the list of candidates was shifted to the interests of the government. Thus, "power due to the personal will of the Shah" replaced "power due to national will".

According to the documents, from the very beginning of his appearance in the political arena of the country, Reza Khan tried to bring the people he wanted to power by threatening and bribing. For example, in a letter dated 1923-6-25 to the Minister of War about the elections, he wrote in a threatening tone: "personally order that Haji Agha and Sultan Al-Ulma (Hajj Seyyed Mohammad Soltani) be elected instead of Zia al-Waezin and Zia al-Adba (representatives of the 4th and 5th terms of the National Assembly)." Despite the end of the election, these people entered the fifth parliament of the National Assembly with the threat of Reza Khan.

According to Taghizadeh, "in fact, Reza Shah had decided not to choose anyone who was not obedient to him." Therefore, he believes: "When the term of that parliament (the sixth parliament) ended and new elections were announced, the court interventions exceeded the limit."

According to the documents, the method of determining the candidates for members of the National Assembly was such that the governor was asked who the person accepted by the people in the governorate was? He then was consulting the commander of the division or military organizations, as well as the police, in order to introduce justified and credible people. The reports were sending to the court in secret and separately. Based on that, Reza Shah secretly was communicating the list of trusted representatives to the Ministry of Interior. Based on this list, members of the National Assembly were elected and relied on parliamentary seats.

During the reign of Mohammad Reza Shah, especially after the coup d'etat of August 19, government interference in the elections continued. In fact, the success of the coup d'état of August 19, 1953, complicated the sphere of authority and political power of the society and the people. This trend was intensified by the changes implemented in the Constitutional Amendment by the Constituent Assembly in 1949, 1957 and 1967, and strengthened the position of the monarchy.

Mark J. Gaziurowski, a professor of political science at the University of Louisiana, also considers the parliamentary elections held after the 1953 coup to be dominated by security forces. In his view, as the Shah consolidated his control over the government, he directly took control of the parliamentary elections to ensure that the parliament would be loyal to him.

Jahangir Tafazli, Member of the National Assembly, talks about the obvious interference of Mohammad Reza Pahlavi in the election process: During the rule of General Zahedi and the government of the coup d'etat of 1332, the Shah told me: "You must become a representative from Gonabad. But I said: If you allow me to become a representative in Birjand, it is better. The Shah said: Very well, tell Assadollah Alam to prepare your work for Birjand. This was done and I was nominated to represent the people of Birjand." 

According to memoirs of Tafazli: " Assadullah Alam, on the other hand, had prepared his sister's husband to represent him in Zabul."

Henderson, the US ambassador to Tehran, Referring to the unification of the names of the candidates based on the interests of the government says: "Alaa, the court minister, said that a few weeks ago, Assadullah Alam, the head of the royal estate, told him that he had prepared the names of the candidates for the parliamentary nomination by order of the Shah. Shah has adapted the list to the names of Zahedi's candidates and after unifying the names of the candidates, he has moved several candidates."

Alikhani, a close friend of Alam, describes the regime officials' attempt to elect "representatives loyal to the Shah" as follows: The next government was formed by Hussein Ala (April 19, 1955) and appointed Alam to the Ministry of Interior by the order of Shah. "Zahedi had conducted the previous parliamentary elections as she wished, and this time the Shah's confidant in the Interior Ministry had to make sure that the deputies loyal to the Shah come out of the ballot box.

Fardoust talks about how to get the names of the Shah's obedient representatives out of the ballot box: "During the prime ministership of Assadollah Alam, Mohammad Reza Shah ordered me to form a three-member commission for the parliamentary elections with Alam and Mansour. Every day, Mansour would come there with a bag full of names ... Mansour would read the names of the people, and Alam would confirm each one he wanted, and they would get out of the ballot box."

In a report dated November 22, 1966 SAVAK also wrote about the words of a person named Sabzevari, who was the head of the secretariat of the New Iran Party:" All governors who are not members of the New Iran Party and do not agree with the party are to be replaced, and those should be selected   that remove the party's preferred candidate from the ballot box."

Assadollah Alam also says about the rigged elections that:"The Prime Minister (Hoveida) told me something in Kish that it was very interesting and it was called bribery, he said that whoever you want, I introduce him as a representative. Whoever it is, do not think at all; just tell me, I will finish."

The result was that in the 1954 election, the Rastakhiz Party was the only party to submit an electoral list, and out of 268 seats in the National Assembly and 60 in the Senate, 100% were elected members of the Rastakhiz . That is why the CIA wrote in a report on its research on Iran: "Since the Shah gained his absolute power, the parliament has found a place equal to the plastic stamp of the sultan."