ITPCM International Commentary December 2011 ISSN. 2239-7949

Park Mellat, , , Photo by NINARA, CC www.flickr.com

by Peyman Majidzadeh

Human Rights Activist and Researcher THE THE KEYSTONE OF A THEOCRATIC SYSTEM

Power Structure and Elections visory element of ‘Velayat Faqih’1 to Islamic practices. Obviously, the elec- Iranian Constitution, as the highest ensure the adherence of , regula- toral policy and system as one of the legal instrument in setting the rules of tions and practices of any kind to the fundamental elements of democracy the game in running the country, in- is not left out of this loop. In this note, stitutes the nation and the country as I try to portray the rule of on free- a mixed of democracy and . 1 Guardianship of the Jurist or Provi- ness and fairness of Parliamentarian In doing so, internationally accepted dence of the Jurist is a post-Age-of-Occultation elections in the Islamic Republic of theory in Shi’a which holds that Islam democratic norms and liberalism no- gives a faqih (Islamic jurist) or fuqaha (jurists) Iran specifically through the supervi- tions are intertwined with a super- custodianship over people. sory role of the Guardian Council.

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In addition to the appointed institu- Islamic Republic of Iran in 1979 and the right to vote in 1963.3 The Islamic tions mainly dominated by the clergy its amendment in 1989, together with Consultative Assembly, as the leg- such as the Guardian Council and the five electoral laws is the basis of the islative body (known as Majlis) was office of the Supreme Leader, Article legal framework for governing elec- established by the new regime, right 6 of the Constitution permits four tions. after the 1979 revolution. Religious elected institutions: president, par- Historically, Iranians have regularly minorities were not neglected in the liament, local councils and Assembly participated in elections since 1906.2 Electoral Law of 1909, and they were of Experts. The Constitution of the Iranian women have been granted guaranteed representation in the leg-

2 http://www.mideastweb.org/iranhis- 3 http://www.ipu.org/wmn-e/suffrage. tory.htm htm

12 ITPCM International Commentary April 2012 ISSN. 2239-7949

islative body. Armenians, Chaldeans, my to supervise, monitor and set poli- of law. The Supreme Leader directly Zoroastrians and Jews were each allo- cies for conducting elections, whereas appoints the first six clergies and cated a seat in the parliament for over the later is mainly the implementer the six jurists are nominated by the 70 years. The practice was then adopt- and operator. head of Judiciary and elected by the ed into the Constitution of the Islamic The Islamic Consultative Assembly majority vote in the Majlis. It is very Republic of Iran in 1979. Today, Iran’s Elections Law provides rules and important to highlight that the Su- approximately 300,000 members of regulations governing the Majlis elec- preme Leader also directly appoints recognized religious minorities elect tions. Majlis is composed of 290 elect- the head of Judiciary. Their term is six a total of five representatives to the ed members directly by the people’s years, with half of the membership Majlis.4 However, there are other re- vote, based on the two-round voting changing every three years on a ran- ligious minorities in Iran who are not system for four years with no term dom draw. Guardian Council is con- recognized by the state. As per the limitations. A speaker officially leads sidered as one of the most powerful Constitution, voters elect 290 candi- the chamber. To secure their seats in institutions of Iran, if not the top one, dates to the Majlis for four-year terms. the parliament in the first round, can- and has been a male-dominated Shi’a In addition to that, constitutional pro- didates need to receive more than 25 council so far. Although there are no visions guarantee the right to direct per cent of the votes cast in their dis- legal restrictions for the selection of vote and secret ballot, and broadly set trict. If they fail to receive so, a sec- female jurists, the head of Judiciary out the conditions for the delimita- ond round of voting is held. Those has failed to nominate a single female tion of electoral districts and increase who receive less than 25% but above to be elected by the Majlis. The same in the number of parliamentary seats. a minimum standard will be on the reason applies to the Sunni Muslims. The diagram below shows the power ballot for a second round of voting in On a discriminatory law, recognized structure and power relation in the Is- about two weeks. In that ballot, the religious minorities are denied mem- lamic Republic of Iran with regards to candidate will have to get "a relative berships of the Council since the Con- electorates.5 majority" of ballots to enter the Maj- stitution stipulates that all members lis. It should be pointed out that the must be Muslim. Election Management Body number of candidates who may run in The Guardian Council has extensive It is so unfortunate that there are not the second round is restricted to twice executive and legislative jurisdic- many details on responsibilities, com- the number of seats to be filled in a tions. In addition to reviewing all position or type of Election Manage- single member constituency (i.e. two legislations passed in the Majlis and ment Bodies of Iran in the existing candidates) and one and a half times the power to reject or approve them, legal frameworks. The only exception the number of seats to be filled in a it has also the power to evaluate stat- to it is the Article 99 of Constitution multi-member constituency. Voters utes approved by the cabinet and which stipulates as follows: “The will choose names from lists of can- other state organs to ensure their con- Guardian Council has the responsi- didates. Allocated seats range from formity with Islamic criteria. While all bility of supervising the elections of 30 for Tehran to one for Iran's small- members of the Council decide on the the for Leader- est towns and villages, so a voter in compatibility of parliamentary reso- ship, the presidency, the Majlis, and the capital can write up to 30 names lutions and government ordinances referenda.”6 whereas the process elsewhere is far with constitutional law, only the six In addition to the Constitution, the simpler. clergies have the authority of deter- following five electoral laws pro- The Guardian Council’s Supervision mination of legislation compatibility vide additional details on adminis- Laws on both presidential and parlia- with the Islamic code. Estimates sug- tration and supervision of elections mentarian elections stem from Article gest that the proportion of legislation in Iran: Presidential Elections Law; 99 of the Constitution. Adopted in rejected by the Guardian in different Islamic Consultative Assembly Elec- 1985 and 1986, they sketch the Guard- periods has been between 27 to 40 per tions Law; Organization, Functions ian Council’s supervisory rights for cent. and Elections of Islamic Councils and each election. Composition, duties The interpretation of the constitu- Mayors Law; Guardian Council’s Su- and power limitation of the same tion is also vested with the Guard- pervision of the Presidential Elections committees are also outlined in the ian Council. This interpretation goes of the Islamic Republic of Iran Law; laws. further and extends to the economic Guardian Council’s Supervision of relations between Iran and the foreign the Elections of the Islamic Consulta- Guardian Council countries, relations between different tive Assembly Law The idea of establishing the Guard- state institutions or the extent of the In general, two main bodies are in ian Council was to have a body com- authority of a given state body. charge of Election Management: the posed of senior clerics overseeing leg- The Guardian Council also has the Guardian Council and the Ministry of islations passed in the Majlis to make politically sensitive duty of supervis- Interior. The first one has the autono- sure they adhere to the Islamic code. ing the elections of the Assembly of The Council convened for the first Experts, president, Majlis, and ref- 4 http://www.state.gov/j/drl/rls/ time after the 1979 revolution. The erenda. Dominated by conservative irf/2010_5/168264.htm Guardian Council is composed of six right factions, the Guardian Council 5 http://united4iran.org/2012/02/or- qualified clergies who are well versed has been an instrument of political gans-of-power-in-iran 6 Yasmin Alem, ‘Duality by design: the in Islamic jurisprudence, and six Mus- control, particularly in the aftermath Iranian electoral system’, IFES, March 2011 lim jurists experts in different areas of Khomeini’s death.

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In reinforcing its power on monitoring ration of national and local elections. have not been drastic changes in the elections, the Guardian Council inter- Drafting and finalizing election budg- composition of the Guardian Council preted Article 99 of the constitution as ets, timeline, guidelines for local elec- since its inception. Ministry of Inte- to assert its approbation supervision toral bodies, print and distribution of rior’s partisan approach on the other of elections and its applicability to all ballots, unique stamp design for each hand has damaged the integrity of stages of the electoral process, includ- election, and archiving electoral doc- . Absences of an in- ing the approval and rejection of can- uments are the main function of this dependent body or international elec- didates. Starting with the 4thMajlis permanent office. On top of that, Elec- toral observer, an electoral roll sys- elections in 1992, the Council started tions Office provides an overview of tem, a voter registration and empha- its vetting procedure of candidates the number of eligible voters for each sis on the role of the birth certificate in and managed to exclude many op- election. This is done to print enough Iran have increased the potential and ponents from the political scene. The ballots for each election. Normally space for fraud. Chief among these number of disqualified candidates in- EO prints 10 per cent more ballots problems is illegal voting, graveyard creased from an average of 15 per cent than the number of eligible voters to voting, ballot stuffing, and the capac- for the first three Majlis elections to 35 ensure availability of enough ballots ity of the government to print extra per cent for the 4th Majlis elections in on voting day. documentation. 1992 and 39 per cent for the 5th Majlis elections in 1996. This trend has con- Democracy without Citizens In short, Guardian Council's vetting tinued with an average of 30 per cent Islamic Republic of Iran has held 30 of candidates threatens Iranian de- of candidates disqualified from run- elections in total since its establish- mocracy. Having a closer look at the ning in each parliamentary election. ment in 1979. The political participa- constitution, particularly Articles 111, In addition to vetting the candidates, tion of the people has always been a 91, and 99, one can see the democracy the Guardian Council has the follow- point of reference for the Iranian au- versus theocracy in the Iranian po- ing major supervisory powers over thorities in their political encounters litical system. Whenever the Leader elections through establishment of both at national and international lev- becomes incapable of fulfilling his Central and Provincial Supervisory els. They have always referred to the constitutional duties, or loses one of Committees: approving elections high rate of participation in elections the qualifications mentioned in the date; receiving electoral complaints to show the legitimacy of their power Constitution, or it becomes known and disputes; annulling election in an and a sign of unity of the Iranians that he did not possess some of the electoral district or even stopping the against external threats. However, the qualifications initially, he will be dis- process; approving amendments and extent to which the political participa- missed by the Assembly of Experts. In revisions to the electoral laws; final tion is perceived to be free, fair and the other hand, the Guardian Council certification of election results. democratic has always been debated. is responsible for vetting candidates The vetting of presidential candidates for the Assembly of Experts elec- Ministry of Interior (MOI) by the Guardian Council and selec- tions. More importantly, members of In principal, MOI is the main ad- tive disqualification of almost 86 per the Guardian Council are directly or ministrator of all election related ac- cent of them over the last thirty years indirectly appointed by the Supreme tivities. In practice, however, MOI is through misappropriated application Leader and obviously their political, perceived as a secondary implement- of rules against those critical of the re- social and religious inclinations can- ing partner of the Guardian Council. gime has undermined the legitimacy not be so different from the Supreme Mostly the logistical aspects of elec- of this institution and raised a lot of Leader’s. Good luck with finding peo- tions are covered by the MOI through debates on the impartiality and inde- ple’s votes in this circle. a permanent office called the Elec- pendency of this organ. Interestingly, tions Office. EO is under the Bureau in the Iranian constitution, there is no of Political Affairs of the MOI and is term limitation for membership in the responsible for planning and prepa- Council. Therefore, in practice, there

Kavir-e-Lut, Iran, Photo by NINARA, CC www.flickr.com 14