WHAT FOR THE EXPERTS ASSEMBLY?
By Safa Haeri
PARIS 9 Sept. (IPS) More than 23 years after the victory of the Islamic revolution and the creation of the Islamic Republic, the clerics who sits at the Assembly of Experts do not know what they are up to?
This incredible question came to light after the so-called "experts on the leadership" gathered on Sunday for yet another of their bi-annual, closed-doors session to do what? They don’t know.
According to the Constitution of the Islamic Republic, the role of this Assembly is to name the leader, to control his deeds and replace him in case he is incapacitated, being it because of physical, mental problems or bad leadership.
But ever since it elected Hojjatoleslam Ali Khameneh'i to replace Grand Ayatollah Roohollah Khomeini, the leader of the Islamic revolution and the founder of the Islamic Republic in 1989, the "experts" never, ever responded to their duties, for the simple reason that some hard line members of the Assembly maintain that the leader of the Islamic Republic is chosen by God and the "faqihs", or the "learned ones", founds him. Since the leader is a gift of God, no one can contest his absolute powers, they argue.
But as the Constitution of the Islamic Republic is a mix of orthodox Islam and western values, two contradictory concepts, those who place priority on republicanism counter-argue that the leader is not above ordinary Iranians, that he is responsible to the Assembly of Experts and in case he mismanages, the expert are entitled call him to order or remove him from office.
In his opening speech, Ayatollah Ali Meshkini, the Speaker of the Assembly of Experts repeated that the leader being God’s choice, he is above all law, no one, including the experts can not contest Almighty’s nominee.
Though Experts deliberations are kept secret, yet, informed sources told IPS that the questions on making the assembly more active, meaning dealing with other problems facing the crumbling and shaky regime and also defining its role in connection with the leader, were debated during the Monday session, a prove of their uncertainty as to their role, with most of the 86 members present siding with the Speaker and his deputy, Ayatollah Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, the two men who manoeuvred the election of Mr. Khameneh'i, then a junior Hojjatoleslam who was elevated overnight to the prestigious rank of Ayatollah.
"The fact is that few of the present members of this assembly are, religiously speaking, more educated and learned than the present leader. On the other hand, with very few exceptions, the great majority of the so-called "experts" are tributaries to the leader, owing him their positions and all the advantages they enjoy, hence, their total obedience to Mr. Khameneh’i", one Iranian analyst explained.
"Since most of the Experts think that the leader is above law, the question that follows immediately is therefore why this Assembly?" he pointed out, referring to some Experts who insist the Assembly should exercise some control on the leader.
In his opening speech, Ayatollah Meshkini rejected any dialogue with the Unite States. "The experts would cut any hand that tends to the Americans", he said.
He also described as "US and Israel mercenaries" those among the reformists who call for the elimination of the Special Rights, a controversial power that allows the 12-members Council of Guardians to reject any candidate to different elections without providing justification.
President Mohammad Khatami’s powerless government presented the Majles last Sunday a bill aimed at reforming the parliament’s election laws by suggesting these Rights to be transferred from the Guardians to the Interior Ministry, angering both conservatives and reformers, with the later ones insisting that the Special Rights be scrapped totally. ENDS EXPERTS ASSEMBLY 9902