Reformists see referendum as a last resort: Power tussle in Iran
By Farshid Motahari
TEHRAN: The power struggle between conservatives and reformists in Iran has reached the president.
President Mohammad Khatami announced last week that he was seeking increased powers and would submit draft legislation to the Iranian parliament next month.
Although Khatami said the president’s actions would still be governed by the constitution, hardline opponents regard the move as an effort to undermine the power of the conservative clergy and to neutralize their power strongholds such as the judiciary and the senate-like Guardian Council.
The main dispute between pro-Khatami reformists and the conservatives is over the power that so-called appointed bodies such as the judiciary and the Guardian Council wield over democratically-elected ones such as government and parliament.
Government and parliament are in the hands of reformists who accuse hardliners in the key bodies of blocking and suppressing all reform plans. However, the conservatives argue that according to the constitution, the appointed bodies are authorized to do so.
The final responsibility for state affairs lies with the supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and pro-Khatami reformists have severely criticized the current system for placing too much power with the clergy.
The new bill would make the president more powerful, but as it would not interfere in the affairs of the judiciary, many see the measure as futile.
Iran’s judiciary is seen as the main body blocking reform through massive press crackdowns and the detention of dozens of dissidents.
Stating his opposition to the bill, Ayatollah Mahmud Hashemi Shahrudi, the head of the judiciary, said that “increasing the authority of the president will not solve any problems.”
The head of the research centre of the Guardian Council, Gholam-Hussein Elham, said that the president is constitutionally only the head of the executive power and has no authority over other state powers.
Even approval of the new laws cannot change the principles of the constitution, Elham said.
Prior to the increased presidential authority bill, the reformists plan to approve a bill which would change election law by eradicating the supervisory board.
According to the Iranian constitution, the Guardian Council, consisting of mainly traditional clergy and conservative lawyers, supervises the process for presidential and parliamentary elections and is authorized to disqualify candidates.
The Guardian Council is also authorized to reject all bills approved by the parliament where reformists have the majority.
Observers believe that if the two bills are not approved by the Guardian Council, the reformists will then urge the holding of a referendum to revise the first post-revolution referendum in 1979 during which more than 90 per cent of the people voted for an Islamic system.
Hardliners see a referendum as the prologue to reformist efforts to oust the Islamic system and replace it with a secular one.
“The country cannot just talk about democracy, it must also prepare grounds for implementing it,” Khatami has said,
vowing to continue to push for his vision of an Islamic democracy.—dpa
