There Can Be No Oversight of Khamenei

In his latest public remarks, the head of Iran’s judiciary branch of government Sadegh Larijani said that the constitution did not provide any oversight over the supreme leader.

Mizan news agency affiliated with the judiciary reported that Larijani was speaking at a meeting of senior judiciary officials when he said, “Sometimes the news media promote ideas that are not correct. Among these are the unfounded remarks about Assembly of Experts on Leadership’s supervision of the work of the supreme leader and the agency under his control.” He then asserted, “Some individuals present their dreams and expectations that have nothing to do with the constitution,” which he characterized as “incorrect and unlawful.” He continued, “The constitution does not provide anything about supervision or monitoring of the supreme leader” and added, “According to the constitution the determination of who had the qualities to be the supreme leader was with the Assembly of Experts. But it is clear that determination is different from monitoring.”

It appears that these remarks by Larijani are a response to what veteran politician and former president Hashemi Rafsanjani had said a few days earlier that a special committee of the Experts Assembly was investigating who had the conditions for leadership which it would announce to the supreme leader, adding that if it was necessary, the report would also go to the Assembly itself. He also spoke about the agencies under the control of the supreme leader and said, “I have said at the Assembly that we must inform the leader of any faults that the agencies under his control so that these can be addressed while at the same time encourage their positive aspects.”

Larijani’s comments, however, were also responded to. This time ayatollah Mohammad Momen Ghomi who is a member of the Guardian Council and of the Assembly of Experts on Leadership said, “The reality is that the responsibility of the Assembly of Experts is the selection of the supreme leader and his introduction to the public. After the selection, the Assembly must monitor the leader because the basis of this system depends on him. The responsibility in this country ranging from the presidency, the judiciary, the Majlis, the armed forces, and the national radio and television network all depend on the supreme leader.” He specifically reiterated that the Assembly of Experts on Leadership had the duty of monitoring the work of the supreme leader.

What Larijani has said is exactly what the supporters of Khamenei have been saying for years. A former head of the Assembly of Experts Mahdavi Kani had also once said that supervision over Khamenei was in fact a way to protect him. He had clarified his view by adding, “This is to prevent wrong things happening in the country, or attacks taking place on him (supreme leader). We need to protect him. I have said at the Assembly that we need to protect the position of the leader.”

Last year too another senior cleric ayatollah seyed Ahmad Elm Alhoda had taken a different view and had publicly said that members of the Assembly could not monitor the work of the supreme leader.

Observers have noted that most of those who had advocated the view that the supreme leader needed to be monitored have been removed from their official posts. They have been gradually replaced by those who believe that Khamenei’s actions cannot and should not be monitored. This is ironic because Khamenei himself has at times publicly said that his work needs to be monitored, while behind the scenes a different view persists and dominates.

Khamenei had once said in 2001, “Nobody is above supervision. Even the supreme leader. Let alone agencies under his control. So all must be supervised. This is because anybody in power of high office by nature has power and wealth. In other words they hold public wealth and social and political authority. This is to prevent misuse and so that they don’t overstep. Later, as his views changed, the voices of those advocating non-supervision of the work of the supreme leader have become more prominent and have appeared in the media.

http://www.roozonline.com/english/news3/newsitem/archive/2015/december/19/article/there-can-be-no-oversight-of-khamenei.html