The recent elections of local councils have their lessons and messages. Less than 50 percent of the eligible voters took part in it and compared to the previous election, there was a 14 percent drop in the turnout. Given that people's role plays a crucial role in the Islamic system, the degree of turnout itself is a message.

The recent elections underlined the fact that the citizens are fed up with some political groups and parties that politicized the local councils during their first term. In the recent elections, the Iranian people showed that they do not heed sloganeering, rather they are more concerned about the performance of the candidates. This very fact illustrates the political insight of the Iranian voters.

Regardless of their political orientations, the Iranian voters evaluate the performances of the officials. Anytime they realize that the performance is not up to the mark, they express their dissatisfaction through their votes. Hence political participation in post-revolution Iran has always been conscious.

The voting behavior of the Iranian citizens has always had a message, both for the friends and enemies: The message for the friends is: The voters will not forgive the officials who rely on their votes, but forget the people when they are elected. The message for the enemies is: The voters defend their country and the system when it comes to foreign threat -- on February 11 the same people poured into the streets massively, but they stayed away from the local council elections to express their dissatisfaction.