The following is the full text of the speech delivered on May 6, 2013 by Ayatollah Khamenei, the Leader of the Islamic Revolution, in a meeting with officials in charge of elections.
In the Name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful
I welcome all the dear brothers and sisters. You are guardians of the great and valuable national and Islamic asset which has been entrusted to you. Each of you - wherever in this great organization you work - will be entrusted with an important, fundamental and valuable responsibility which will exert a permanent influence on the country. By Allah's favor, you - including the honorable members of the Guardian Council, the supervision boards which are affiliated with the Guardian Council, the honorable members of the Ministry of Interior, other public and executive organizations which are affiliated with these organizations and officials in charge of creating a safe and healthy environment for elections such as the Police Force and other organizations - will act on the basis of these responsibilities.
Before I discuss a few points in this regard, I deem it necessary to refer to a tragic event which has occurred recently. Both the event itself and the people who were acting behind the scenes made this event tragic. In this event, the tomb of the Holy Prophet's (s.w.a.) companion, Hujr ibn Adi (may God bestow paradise on him and His greetings be upon him) was destroyed and his body was insulted. This event is tragic for a number of reasons. One is insulting one of the Holy Prophet's (s.w.a.) companions. He was one of the outstanding companions of the Holy Prophet (s.w.a.) and one of the followers of the Commander of the Faithful (a.s.). He was a martyr in the way of God.
After 1,400 years, his grave was desecrated and his pure body was disinterred and insulted. This is a very sad and tragic event. Another reason why this is a tragic event is that there are some people among Muslims and the Islamic Ummah who have backward, superstitious and malevolent ideas and who consider commemorating outstanding and enlightened personalities of the early Islamic era as a polytheistic and blasphemous move. This is really a disaster. These are the people whose forefathers destroyed the tombs of the Imams (a.s.) in al-Baqi.
The day when Muslims throughout the world of Islam - from the Indian Subcontinent to Africa - rose up against them, they would have completely annihilated the pure tomb of the Holy Prophet (s.w.a.) if they had had the courage. See what wrong ideas and what evil spirits they have. See how malevolent they are. They want to violate the right to respect outstanding personalities in such a way and they consider it as one of their religious obligations. You should know that when they destroyed al-Baqi, the entire world of Islam expressed its opposition to these people. As I said, Muslims from the eastern - the Indian Subcontinent - to western parts of the world of Islam united against them.
They make these evil moves under the pretext that commemorating such people is a kind of worship. Is paying a visit to the grave of an individual in a spiritual environment and asking Allah the Exalted to show His mercy on him and on oneself a polytheistic act? Polytheism means being a tool in the hands of the intelligence services of England and America and distressing the hearts of Muslims. These people do not consider obeying, worshipping and kneeling before the current taghuti powers as a polytheistic act, but they consider respecting outstanding personalities as a polytheistic act. This is a disaster. The evil and blasphemous movement which has begun in the world of Islam thanks to the financial resources of the enemies - unfortunately, they have money and resources - is one of the disasters of Islam.
Thankfully, Shia Muslims in our country, in Iraq, in Pakistan and wherever they became involved with this event showed that they enjoy intellectual growth and maturity. By doing this, the enemy wants to fuel the fire of Shia and Sunni differences. However, the great Shia community and the great family of the followers of the Holy Prophet's (s.w.a.) household showed that they were not deceived by this game. Our Sunni Muslim brothers also condemned this act in many countries. They also showed their deep understanding and wisdom. This should be continued.
This is not one of the events which cause uproar in the world for two, three, five days and then it is forgotten. If these moves are not vigorously condemned by Muslims and if academic, intellectual and political personalities do not carry out their responsibilities in the face of these people, such fitna will not end in this. A disaster will befall the Islamic community and the fire of this fitna will spread on a daily basis. Muslims should prevent such fitnas through political actions, fatwas and articles which should be written by intellectuals and outstanding and political personalities in the world. You should pay attention to the fact that those who are acting behind the scenes are revealing themselves. This is not something which can be ignored. Those who mourn and create uproar for the destruction of an archeological site - whether international organizations, international personalities or the politicians who are supporting the blind perpetrators of this crime - have remained silent on this issue. This is indicative of the fact that they are involved in this issue. This issue reveals who is acting behind the scenes.
You should know that "Most surely your Lord is watching" [The Holy Quran, 89: 14]. Allah the Exalted says, "Surely they will make a plan. And I (too) will make a plan [The Holy Quran, 86: 15-16]. They use tricks, but divine tricks will definitely outwit their tricks and will block the path of the movement which wants to create obstacles in the way of the unity of the Islamic Ummah and its progress.
Over these 34 years, elections have been a crucial and determining factor in helping our country move forward. Over these years, each time the people went to ballot boxes - more than thirty elections have been held in our country - they prevented many disasters. Each time their presence managed to give fresh impetus to our country, nation and Revolution. This time, elections are more important, in certain ways, than a number of previous elections. As it was pointed out in this meeting, one reason is that presidential elections, city and village council elections and midterm elections have coincided with one another.
Presidential elections are very important. City and village council elections are also very important. Officials, the people and outstanding personalities should take care not to ignore the significance of city and village council elections because of their attention to presidential elections. The fact that in the end, we entrust the people with the responsibility of making decisions for villages, cities and for the whole country is a very important event. City and village councils are the manifestation of such a thing. And the importance of presidency is clear. The Constitution and the current legal system in the country have provided the executive branch and the president with many resources and with a large budget so that it can tread the path of achieving ideals. Therefore, presidential elections are extremely important.
Holding elections in the country is one of the achievements of the Islamic Republic. From the first time the issue of elections was raised in the early years of the Constitutional Movement to the time the Islamic Republic was established, we did not have a nationwide and enthusiastic election in the real sense of the word. And before the Constitutional Movement the concept of election was meaningless in our country. Even during the National Movement, although a real election was held, it was not the way the Iranian nation deserved. It was not the case that people from remote villages were allowed to know the candidates themselves and then go to ballot boxes and vote. But this happened in the Islamic Republic and our magnanimous Imam (r.a.) was the innovator and engineer of this structure. From the beginning, he insisted that a referendum should be held, as soon as possible, in order to form the government of the Islamic Republic.
In other revolutions in the world, these things happen after three, four, five years and sometimes even more. But in the Islamic Republic, a nationwide referendum was held in less than 50 days after the victory of the Revolution. And a significant and large number of people went to ballot boxes and voted. That what they voted for is of secondary importance. The issue that is of prime importance is that the people showed with all their hearts and souls that they are present on the scene and they are prepared to take action, make decisions and determine the future path. The foundation of this structure was laid at that time and it continued to develop.
A few months after the victory of the Revolution, when the Constitution had not been drafted and prepared yet and when it was necessary for the Assembly of Experts to be formed, Imam (r.a.) summoned the members of the Revolutionary Council in Qom. We went to Qom. Imam (r.a.) was harsh and he said, "Why don't you adopt the necessary measures to form a majlis which can draw up the Constitution?" Imam (r.a.) thought that it was late. This is the nature of the Islamic Republic.
Thankfully, this has been preserved in the Islamic Republic. Many people wanted to undermine elections and delay them. They wanted to undermine the presence of the people in elections. They had a motivation for doing this, but they failed. They have failed to do this- to this day.
By Allah's favor, they will not be able to do this even from now on. Why do they have a motivation for undermining elections? Because they know that the strength of the Islamic Republic relies on the presence and the votes of the people. In the Islamic Republic, if the people are not present on the scene, The Islamic Republic means nothing. The Islamic Republic is not comprised of a few officials like me. The Islamic Republic means the widespread presence of the people of Iran and their movement towards ideals and great and practical goals. This is the meaning of the Islamic Republic.
The Islamic Republic and its power rely on the hearts, emotions and feelings of the people. They rely on the wisdom and the understanding of the people. If, over these 30-something years, the enemies have not managed to undermine the Islamic Republic, the reason is this. Otherwise, would this materialistic and arrogant world and these oppressive, cruel and evil powers allow such a system with its lofty claims to survive?
You can see what they do to countries in which an Islamic movement has begun. They put them under pressures and they impose their demands on them by using force. They could not do these things to the Islamic Republic and they failed. The enemy wants to impose its demands on the Islamic Republic and make it give in to his demands. This can happen only when the Islamic Republic is weak. The Islamic Republic gains power with the presence of the people. They do not want this power to exist. Therefore, over these years and during all of our elections, the enemy has used its propaganda before elections begin. That is to say, the enemy hatches plots before our officials, our media and our press begin to carry out their responsibilities towards elections. This time, it is also the same.
We know that this time too, the official and well-known media networks of the enemy - whenever they could, they worked against the Islamic Republic - have recently started to hatch plots, do some planning and develop some schemes in order to discourage the hearts of the people on the issue of elections. They have already started to do these things but their planning is beyond these things. They want to prevent the people from going to ballot boxes, participating in the affairs and the management of the country and being present on the scene. Therefore, they make many efforts. If the people are not present on the scene, they can easily attack several times more than they did in the past. It is the presence of the people which gives the Islamic Republic and our dear country immunity. It is the presence of the people which reinforces the factors which gives us power in our country. With the presence of the people, our science makes progress, our management makes progress and our wisdom increases, as we have made progress in these areas during these years. This is because of the presence of the people. This is because of the motivation of the people. They want this motivation not to exist. Therefore, they try to undermine elections.
I will tell you that, by Allah's favor and grace, the upcoming election will be one of our best and most enthusiastic elections because we are confident about divine blessings and about the determination of our dear people. Of course, like what they did in the year 1388, the enemy is trying to counteract the people's efforts. This was one of the things which the enemies did. They made some people build up certain illegal expectations so that, based on these expectations, they would try to pit the people against the Islamic Republic. Of course, by Allah's favor, they failed.
The major way to prevent the problems that may occur during elections is to observe the law. Wherever they are, all the people - including the people in the capital, big cities and villages - should try to express their viewpoints on the basis of the law. If anybody has an expectation, they should express it within the law. In that year, if those individuals who inflicted a loss on the country and the people and those who imposed unnecessary expenses on the country had observed the law, that situation would not have been brought about. The law has specified that if anybody has a complaint, they should step forward. This was mentioned in that year. We even asked the honorable members of the Guardian Council to extend the time for counting votes. We said that they can recount as many boxes as they want. But they [who claimed fraud] did not accept it. What they did was irrational. They imposed unnecessary expenses on the country. Well, our country overcomes these challenges because the Islamic Republic of Iran is strong. These obstacles, these hitches and snags and these kinds of harm and trouble will not make the Islamic Republic fall.
Over these years, the Islamic Republic has been faced with different kinds of policies and politicians. Despite all hostile moves and all perspectives which existed, the Islamic Republic moved forward. It will be the same from now on. The Islamic Republic does not fall with these moves. But such things impose unnecessary expenses on the country. The way to avoid this is to observe the law. This is my advice to you honorable officials: you should regard the law as your standard. In the holy ayah which was recited, there was a reference to the issue of honoring people's trust. "Allah does command you to render back your trusts to those to whom they are due" [The Holy Quran, 4: 58]. In order to honor the people's trust, you should observe the law. The law should be strictly observed on the issue of qualifying presidential candidates, candidates running for city and village council elections and other candidates who may run for future elections. Also, the law should be observed on the issue of counting the votes and protecting the ballot boxes. The law should be observed and the people's trust should be honored in the best way possible. Thankfully, this has been done until today.
It is clear that in each election a number of people do not achieve the desired results. I do not want to refer to these people as losers in elections. Words such as losers, winners and other such western and materialistic words and expressions should not be used. If we enter the arena for the sake of God and for carrying out our responsibilities, then winning and losing are meaningless. Naturally, a number of people have certain complaints. It is the same even when we go to a judge. Take the case of a court of law in which a judgment is made. The party who has achieved the desired results is happy, but the other party is unhappy. The one who has lost the case should not accuse the court of law of violating his rights because it is a court of law and it acts within the law. In any case, he becomes unhappy and dissatisfied. We should tolerate everything which may happen in elections - which is based on law. We should learn this. This is revolutionary patience. This is revolutionary tolerance. I hope that Allah the Exalted will guide our hearts towards what is good for the country.
In our country, executive management, at its highest level, is a great and important task. A single word can exert a great influence. Any move - whether significant or insignificant - that high-ranking executive officials of the country, such as the president and ministers, make exerts an influence. The executive branch is like this. Its services for the country, will exert a profound influence and, God forbid, its negligence and its mistakes will have many negative consequences. These things will make you and I, who want to make a choice, be careful.
We should evaluate the commitment, faith, preparedness and capabilities of candidates and we should act according to our evaluation. If you and I, who want to vote, enter the arena with pure intentions and for carrying out our responsibilities and making decisions for the future of our country, then Allah the Exalted will guide our hearts. Allah the Exalted will guide hearts provided that all the people really want to carry out their responsibilities. It has been said many times that election is both the right and the responsibility of the people. We should both exercise our rights and carry out our responsibility in a good way. In these elections, there is such a condition.
Those who want to evaluate the qualifications of candidates and make a decision according to that evaluation should take everything into consideration. The president should be diligent, popular, steadfast and wise. He should be committed to values and rules and regulations because he is the enforcer of the law. Moreover, he should feel the needs of the people and he should pay attention to all the people from different social backgrounds. These are the characteristics which play a role in helping us choose the person whom we want to entrust with the executive management of the country. We the people are decision-makers in this regard. Nobody should say, "What kind of influence does my vote exert anyway?" When individuals come together, they form millions-strong groups. Everybody should feel that they are responsible and, by Allah's favor, they should enter the arena. By Allah's favor, it will be the same. The security, immunity and progress of the country will be definitely reinforced with the widespread presence and maximum participation of the people. And, by Allah's favor, this country will be able to take another step towards the lofty goals of the Islamic Revolution.
I ask Allah the Exalted to guide the hearts of all of us - including executive officials, other officials, people in charge of supervision and all the people - so that we can do what He approves and what benefits our country.
Greetings be upon you and Allah's mercy and blessings