[FREE IRAN Project] In The Spirit Of Cyrus The Great

[stefania]

Iran's Islamic Republic Faces Moment of Truth
http://www.iranvajahan.net/cgi-bin/news.pl?l=en&y=2004&m=02&d=04&a=3

February 04, 2004
(Persian)Gulf News
Amir Taheri



Is Islam a sufficient basis for building a modern nation-state? This is the question that Iran's Khomeinists, in both mullah and "civilian" versions, have shunned for the past quarter of a century. They labelled their regime an "Islamic Republic", an oxymoron, and erected some of the décor of democracy including an elected parliament, an elected president and a constitution mostly copied from that of the French Fifth Republic.

For 25 years they have grappled with the fundamental contradiction of their system: a forlorn attempt at operating a "democratic theocracy." The current crisis over who could stand in the coming general election has brought that contradiction into focus. What caused the crisis?

Briefly, the conflict started when the Council of Guardians of the Constitution rejected the candidacy of some 3,000 individuals, including some incumbent members of the Majlis (parliament) on the grounds that they were not sufficiently "Islamic". Last month some of the rejected politicians started a sit-in at the Majlis, triggering a verbal duel with the Guardians Council. On Sunday, 116 members of the outgoing parliament resigned in protest.

The Western media describe the protestors as "reformers" and the Guardians Council as "conservative". Such labels, however, ignore the facts.

• The so-called "reformers" do not propose to reform anything. They are not asking for the Guardians Council to be abolished. Nor do they propose that the council lose its constitutional power to vet and, if necessary, veto candidacies. All that the "reformers" want is for the Guardians Council to dance to their tune.

• The Guardians Council is acting in strict accordance with its constitutional powers and duties. It is, therefore, the so-called "reformist" camp that wants the constitution to be violated, in both letter and spirit.

• In the case of a dispute between the Majlis and the Guardians Council, the present constitution includes adequate mechanisms for conflict resolution. Thus there is no need for sit-ins and threats of mass resignation. The disputing parties could take the matter to the Expediency Council which will hear both sides and issue a verdict. If the dispute continues beyond that verdict, the two sides could take the matter to the "Su-preme Guide" who has the final say on all matters, religious and temporal.

• Whatever the final list of candidates, to be published on Feb-ruary 7, it is certain that no "outsider" will be allowed to stand. This has been the case in all the elections held by the Khomeinist regime since 1979. Thus the choice is between two brands of Khomeinism, one presumably "lite", the other hard.

• The mass of Iranians are uninterested in what is, at best, a family feud between two factions whose members are often related to one other by blood, marriage and/or business interests. A poll by the Interior Ministry in Tehran last week revealed that 85 per cent of the electorate would boycott the coming polls even if all the candidates belonged to the so-called "reformist" faction of the Khomeinist family.

Showdown

The showdown within the Khomeinist family has provoked a huge yawn inside Iran, but has forced the leaders of the regime to raise the taboo question: Is Islam compatible with democracy as normally understood across the globe?

President Mohammed Khatami, often introduced by the Western media as the leader of the "reformist" camp, had the courage to raise the question last Saturday.

Emerging from a pilgrimage to the tomb of Khomeini, Khatami had this to say: "The system of our Islamic Republic is based on the two principles of Islamism and republicanism. Just as those who do not accept Islamism are excluded [from our system] those who reject the republican aspect of our Islamic Republic fall outside it."

Khatami was careful to use the term "Islamism" rather than Islam, thus reducing religion to the status of a political ideology.

This was no mere semantic trick. For Khatami knows that Islam is incompatible with democracy. To say so is not meant as a disparagement of Islam. On the contrary many sincere Muslims regard any suggestion that Islam is not politically self-sufficient as an insult to their faith. The same sincere Muslims would feel hurt by Khatami's suggestion that Islam is a political ideology that cannot exist without the support of republicanism, a Western system of government.

In Islam all power belongs to Allah and is exercised only by His "regents" (Caliphs) in strict accordance with the immutable rules of the faith. In other words, it is Allah, and not the people, who is Sovereign.

The Khomeinist system is based on the claim that all of Allah's powers are concentrated in the hands of a mullah, named "Faqih Wali" (The Jurisconsult Custodian), who can even order the suspension of the rites of Islam itself.

In a republic, however, power belongs to the people on the basis of national sovereignty. A republic does not distinguish among its citizens on the basis of religion, although it respects their religious faith, whatever it happens to be. In a republic there are no immutable Divine Laws; an elected legislature can change whatever laws it deems fit in accordance with an earthly constitution.

In other words one can have an Islamic state just as one can have a republic. What one cannot do is to have both. The Iranian experience of the past 25 years shows that both Islam and republicanism emerge as losers from attempts to use them as a facade for a despotic regime based on violence, terror and corruption.

The true reformists in Iran are not to be found within the Khomeinist establishment. But they are present at all levels of Iranian society. They, too, are divided into two camps.

Traditionalist

The first camp, consisting of traditionalist Muslims, wants the regime to abandon its dishonest pretensions to be "almost democratic" by establishing a fully Islamic state in which there are no secular legislative organs. Such a system could still hold periodical elections, but only to reaffirm the people's allegiance to the regime.

The second camp consists of the overwhelming majority of politically active Iranians who want a democratic system in which power belongs to the people and is exercised on its behalf by elected representatives. In such a system Islam will certainly remain the religious faith of most Iranians, the framework of the nation's cultural life, and a vital element of its identity.

Neither of those two camps is represented within the Khomeinist establishment. Both camps deserve respect because they are sincere in their beliefs.

The traditional Muslims believe that Islam has the answer to all questions that may ever be asked.

The democrats believe that Islam's principal function is to teach the individual how and what questions to ask.

This is the real debate in Iran, not the shadow-boxing in and around a meaningless parliament whose membership is disputed among members of the same politico-ideological tribe.

The Khomeinists, whether so-called "reformist" or "hardliners", deserve little respect because their positions are based on a lie labelled "Islamic Republic", a tyranny that is neither Islamic nor republican.

Amir Taheri is an Iranian author of 10 books on the Middle East and Islam. He's available through www.benadorassociates.com.
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Referendum AFTER Regime Change

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[redemption]

GOOD post Stefani.. Amir Taheri and Michael Ledeen have proved to be strong defenders of freedom and democracy!
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IRANIANS UNITE
PERSIA LIVES ON!!
FREE IRAN NOW!

[Khorshid]

Mr. Taheri states that the Islamic Republic is not Islamic.

Then what is it? What does Mr. Taheri consider Islamic?

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[shams]

[Khorshid]

Shams,

Then we're "back to square one." Is "Psycho-Islamic" Islamic?


I think that Mr. Taheri could have been more honest.

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