Some notes on the political apparatus in Iran:
Despite what people in America think, Iran is not really a dictatorship. It is true that the "Supreme Leader" has most of the power, but he can be dismissed by the assembly. Iran's political structure is very much like a modern corporation. Here is how it goes:
People elect members of the "Assembly of Experts" who have the analogous role of the Board of Directors. These "Experts" are elected once every 10 years. The Assembly has strong investigative powers, but in general it does not interfere with the state affairs...again, think of them as BoD.
The Assembly appoints the Supreme Leader (currently Ayatollah Khamanei). The appointment is for life, but the Assembly may dismiss the Leader. So in theory, the Supreme Leader has a term of 10 years also. The position of the Supreme Leader is very similar to that of a CEO (or even more like Bill Gates' at Microsoft). He is responsible for the vision for the country and the major aspects of foreign relations, including war and strategic initiatives. But beyond that he does not really deal with the day to day affairs of the country.
The president is elected for a 4 year term and he may not occupy the office for more than two consecutive terms. But he may rerun for the office once another person has become the president. The job of the president is similar to that of a modern corporation's president (i.e. the CEO is responsible for the vision and the president cooperates with him in forming the vision, but cannot contradict him). The prime minister is like the chief operating officer.
The parliament, called Majles, operates more or less like the British version of it.
The bottom line is that there is a system of checks and balances, even though Iran is not a popular democracy...but then again, neither is the US. The two systems have more in common than appears on the first glance. In Iran, those who may run for the office first have to gain the approval of powerful mullahs and then the people get to choose amongst them. In the US, the same is true, only the prospective candidate has to seek the approval of powerful business interests. In both cases there may be sufficient differences in style and prepheral goals of the elected officials. However in both cases the system is set up so as not to upset the apple cart and allow the ruling class to keep warming their seats. |
