Lessons of an election

Lesson 2: All the roads end in Rahbar

As long as there is something like Rahbar in Iran, this country can’t put itself in the road of progressing ahead. Or you may call it Shah, or King, or any other name. The names are not important, as perhaps they are different and have different meanings, but the roles are the same—all of them are the ‘First Person’ of the country, the one who makes the final decision, who is at the top of the pyramid.

Rahbar issues a so-called ‘Government Rule’ (hokm-e hokoomati) so that some disqualified candidates get qualified. He issues a Government Rule to stop any debate on the new version of Press Law (in the beginning days of the 6th Majles). The First Person (who is at the same time the commander of all the armed forces) issues a new order to decrease the period of the mandatory military service from 21 to 20 months (just recently). He decides if it is the time to have conversation with USA or not (although always he concludes it’s not the time yet!). And so on, he sits in his ivory tower to decide on the every aspect of Iranian Life, like a self-made, dreamed-of god. But all the problem is that he is not God, and can’t know what is the best thing to do.

Iranian Constitution has considered a group of clerics overlooking Rahbar called ‘Community of Experts’. They are elected by people votes, but before that, they should pass the filter of Guardians Council that consists of 6 lawyers (proposed by Justice Authority and approved by the votes of MPs) and 6 clerics appointed directly by Rahbar. You see, there is a closed loop: the people who are supposed to overlook Rahbar, have indirectly been appointed by himself!

A true democratized society doesn’t need a First Person. Just a president elected by people is enough.