Ch. 13 The Islamic Republic

of Iran

1. Supreme Leader

2. Guardian Council

3. Expediency Council

4. Assembly of Religious Experts

5. President

6. Parliament—Majles

7. Judiciary

8. The Constitution—Honestly Undemocratic

• Tension: Between Islam and practical governance

– Remember: You can’t ask God what He thinks!

• Two types of institutions coexist:

– Appointed and Elected

• Dualism reflects the attempted synthesis between divine and popular sovereignty institutions

• Multiple Power Centers:

– Institutions created by the revolutionaries to supplement the activities of the traditional state institutions, with which they share overlapping responsibilities

– This further complicates the institutional structure of Iran

• Supreme Leader, Guardian Council, The Assembly of Religious Experts, and the Expediency Council DO NOT fit into three branch government.

• All have broad executive, legislative, and judicial powers that allow them to supersede all other positions and bodies.

• Jurist Guardianship: Ayatollah Khomeini’s overarching principle that they have all encompassing authority over the whole community based on their ability to understand the shari'a and their commitment to champion the rights of the people.

• Highest authority in the Islamic Republic

– Seen as iman of entire community

– Represents pinnacle of theocratic principles of the state.

– Ayatollah Khomeini and Ali Khamenei.

– Faqih: the leading Islamic jurist to interpret the meaning of religious documents and shari'a law.

– Links three branches of government together, may mediate among them, and is charged with “determining the interests of Islam”

• Constitution gives Supreme Leader many powers:

– Elimination of presidential candidates

– Dismissal of president

– Command of armed forces

– Declaration of war and peace

– Appointment and removal of major administrators and judges

– Nomination of six members of Guardian Council

– Appointment of many non-governmental directors, such as the national radio-television network and semi-public foundations

– Formally, is head of state (president is head of government), but the Supreme Leader holds ultimate power

• Represents theocratic principles

• Consists of twelve MALE clerics

– Six appointed by Supreme Leader

– Six nominated by the chief judge (judiciary) and approved by Majles

• Purpose: To ensure that all bills passed by Majles conform to shari'a law.

• Has power to decide who can compete in elections.

– 2004 and 2005 disqualified 1000 of candidates for both the Majles and the presidential elections.

• Along with Supreme Leader, Guardian Council exercises principle of jurist guardianship, making sure that democratic bodies adhere to Islamic beliefs and laws.

• 86 member all male assembly directly elected every 10 years by people, but whose candidates are approved of by Guardian Council

• Given the responsibility of broad constitutional interpretation—along with Supreme Leader and Guardian Council

• Main Function: To select Supreme Leader and has power to remove Supreme Leader (after 1989 reforms).

• In theory, Assembly of Religious Experts had power over the Supreme Leader, but since the Assembly is chosen by the Guardian Council and the Guardian Council is chosen by the Supreme Leader, the real power always rests with the Supreme Leader.

• A 32 member “council for determination of what is

in the interest of the regime”

• Purpose: Originally designed to solve disputes

between Majles and Guardian Council. Now it has

expanded powers.

– Example: Now it can originate its own legislation

• Began as council of 13 clerics, now not all are

clerics but they are appointed by Supreme Leader

• Collectively, they represent the most powerful men

in Iran.

• Ethel Wood on the president, page 247

– Iran does not have a presidential system, so the head of the executive does not have the same authority as presidents in countries that have a presidential system, such as the U.S., Mexico, and Nigeria.

– However, the president does represent the highest official representing democratic principles in Iran, and he functions as the head of government, while the supreme leader serves as head of state.

• Directly elected by Iranian citizens every four years.

• Limited to two consecutive terms in office, though may re-run.

• Must be pious Shia who upholds Islamic principles.

• President holds the following powers:

– Devising the budget

– Supervising economic matters

– Proposing legislation to the Majles

– Executing policies

– Signing of treaties, laws, and agreements

– Chairing the National Security Council

– Selecting vice presidents and cabinet members

– Appointing provincial governors, town mayors, and ambassadors

• Five of six presidents have been clerics

• The cabinet conducts the real day-to-day work over governance.

• Unicameral, the Majles, comprised of 290

members directly elected through SMDP.

• Must be Muslims but the Constitution provides

for five members of Parliament to represent

Christians (3), Jews (one) and Zoroastrians (one)

• All its bills are subject to the veto of the Council

of Guardians—greatly limits power.

• Predates Iranian Revolution—first created by

Constitution of 1906

• Some of the powers of the Majles:

– Enacting or changing laws (with approval of Guardian

Council

– Interpreting legislation, as long as they don’t contradict the

judicial authorities

– Appointing six of the twelve members of Guardian Council,

chosen from a list drawn up by the chief judge (judiciary)

– Investigating the cabinet ministries and public complaints

against the executive and judiciary

– Removing cabinet members, but not the president

– Approving the budget, cabinet appointments, treaties, and

loans

• Judicial Review does not exist in Iran

• Ultimate legal authority resides in shari’a NOT constitution.

• Run by Chief Justice who is appointed by Supreme Leader and who must be a cleric.

• Under Chief Justice is Supreme Court, highest court in the land.

– All judges on Supreme Court must be clerics because judicial system is based on shari'a law.

• Two important things to remember about judiciary:

1.Distinction between two types of law: shari'a and qanun

2.The of principle of jurist guardianship means that the Supreme Leader, the Guardian Council, and the Assembly of Religious Experts have the final say regarding interpretation of law.

• Shari’a Law

– Islamic law that comes directly from the time of

Muhammad.

– Foundation of all Islamic civilization—authority goes

beyond Iran’s borders.

– Muslims believe it to be the essence of Muhammad

himself.

– Purpose: Unifying Islamic morals and values

– Foundation of Iran: Sharia law supersedes all other law,

thus is foundation of Iranian law.

– Jurist Guardianship is a reflection of shari'a law—Supreme

Leader being the key interpreter

• Qanun law

– No sacred basis—unlike shari’a law

– Instead is a body of statues made by legislative bodies inside

Iran

– In Iran, qanun are passed by the Majles.

– Qanun is law made by the people’s elected representatives.

– Qanun must in no way contradict shari’a law.

– So, it becomes the responsibility of the Majles to pass

responsible qanun, but an important job of the Guardian

Council (and ultimately the Supreme Leader) is to review

legislative work of Majles and apply the interpretation of

shari’a to all laws passed.

• The Pre-revolutionary legacy –Very limited competitive elections before

1979

–Suffrage for women

–Minimum voting age 15

–Communist Tudeh Party and Nationalist Party did exist since WW II

–Overshadowed by Islamist groups—anti-communist

ELECTIONS AND PARTIES

• Post-revolutionary parties

–Most political parties form around one person’s charisma and political ambitions

• Three Ideological Differences

–Conservatives

• Clerics and politicians who argue for stricter social rules

• Call for greater authority to Supreme Leader at the expense of elected bodies

• Support market oriented policies (paradoxical!)

ELECTIONS AND PARTIES

–Pragmatists • Accomodating on social issues

• Support economic liberalization and privatization

–Radicals • Younger revolutionaries and clerics influenced

by leftist and anti-imperialist policies

• Increased state control of economy to ensure social justice

• Active in supporting Islamists struggles in Middle East

ELECTIONS AND PARTIES

• Majles Elections – Divided into multimember constituencies

– Largest is Tehran with 30 representatives

– Each voter can write down the names of as many candidates as there are seats in a constituency.

– Top vote-getters in each constituency are elected provided they receive over 50% of the total vote.

– Second round determines the remaining representatives from among the runner-ups.

ELECTIONS AND PARTIES

• Presidential elections

– 1980 first ever presidential election • Victory of a lay Islamist: Banisadr

– Impeached by Parliament and deposed by Khomeini in 1981

• His successor and prime minister killed by a bomb two months later

– The next four elections: Khomeini associates • Result: participation went down

– Khatami – “outsider”; appealed to those who had been humiliated by the regime • Promised greater cultural openness and personal freedom

• 2005 elections: arch conservative mayor of Tehran, Mahud Ahmadinejad

– Some question as to voter fraud allegations

ELECTIONS AND PARTIES

•Elections of 2004 • Council of Guardians disallowed

about 2,000 reformist candidates,

including about 80 sitting MPS

(unprecedented)

–Call for a boycott of the election

–50% of the population still went to the

polls

ELECTIONS AND PARTIES

• Local elections

– Constitution of 1906 provided for elected local government councils but these were never constituted.

– Similar provision of the 1979 Constitution first put into action in 1999. • Iranians for the first time went to the polls to elect city, town, and

village councils.

• Reformists won control over most councils; stymied by conservatives

• Voters stopped participating.

• Elections in 2003 – only 15 turnout in Tehran- even though the freest election in Iranian history. Mostly conservatives voted. Result: very conservative council

• December 2006 new elections

– Participation increased; Ahmadinejad conservatives won only a few seats; rebuke for the President’s handling of the economy.

ELECTIONS AND PARTIES