Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei said on Wednesday that the people's participation in elections has forced the enemies to back down from their animosity toward the Islamic Republic.
In a meeting with members of the Guardian Council, the Leader said that the law should be observed in all stages of elections, adding that all these procedures have been taken into account by the law but some people seek to resort to illegal and complicated procedures instead of legal and simple approaches.
Noting that the Interior Ministry and Guardian Council are tasked with vetting parliamentary candidates, the Leader said the degree of qualification should be defined because qualifications vary from job to job; therefore the qualifications required for a parliament candidate should be taken into consideration.
He said that categorically certifying a candidate's qualifications is not possible but an acceptable and wise judgment is sufficient and achievable through studying the facts. He added that a candidate's negative and positive characteristics should also be taken into consideration.
The Leader called the GC a very important institution whose members are well-known and trusted figures with good records, saying that the Constitution stipulates the various stages of the vetting process and now the GC has a good opportunity to review qualifications carefully and legally.
Stressing that any investigation by the GC should be carried out carefully and with certainty so that no one's rights are trampled upon, the ayatollah said that the GC should not back down from its position despite bullying by some people.
Ayatollah Khamenei said that if the qualifications of incumbent MPs were approved in the last parliamentary elections they should be approved this time, too, unless the opposite is proven.
However, he said, this procedure cannot be used in the case of those candidates whose eligibility was rejected in the previous elections, saying such candidates' qualifications should be verified.