Yesterday Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei urged a large turnout on the upcoming parliamentary elections in what was possibly his final speech before the election in two weeks. The run-up to the election has not been without controversy, however, as the fight between President Hassan Rouhani and Khamenei behind the scenes has spilled into the public.

Khamenei, as he has done before, urged even those who do not favor him to vote out of duty to their country, an odd pitch for a man who has been at the helm of power for three decades. Rouhani, who addressed his cabinet the same day Khamenei made his speech, made just a few comments about the elections but not so subtly warned about the concentration of power. “No one is higher than the law and the people,” Rouhani said. “Let’s not think we are a small group who can guide public opinion and that if we were not here the people would be lost. No, the people know well and they choose well.”

Rouhani continued, “Islam is based on the people’s vote; the people must choose.”

The conservative Guardian Council has disqualified the majority of Reformist and moderate candidates from running in the election and some of the most outspoken members of parliament, such as Ali Motahhari, have been inexplicably sidelined. The supreme leader directly chooses six members of the 12-member Guardian Council. The head of the judiciary, who is chosen by the supreme leader, nominates the others and their nominations are approved by parliament.