“مراقب باشید”

“Be careful”
Mohammad Mohabbai

In the human experience during modernity and the evolution of human life based on the concept of democracy, the institution of “local councils” is remembered as one of the important achievements. Some seek the creation of local councils (city and village councils) in the characteristics of ancient Greek city-states. For example, in ancient Athens, there was a place called “Agora” where the citizens of Athens gathered and made decisions about their city. Some even consider its history to be older and attribute the existence of local council institutions to the northwest of Iran – the initial settlements of the Medes. The late Dr. Jahanshah Derakhshani in the book “Encyclopedia of Kashan” (volume two, pages 322-374) has detailed the characteristics of Mede city-states from about 3,000 years ago in present-day Azerbaijan and Kurdistan, Iran.

In the modern era, after important movements and revolutions in the world such as the Magna Carta and constitutionalism in England, the American Independence Revolution, and the French Revolution, democratic institutions such as national and state parliaments were established. However, the idea of forming councils for cities and villages may have been influenced by the views of Thomas Jefferson, one of the founding fathers of the United States and the writer of the Declaration of Independence. This politician and thinker has a theory called “democracy of free farmers”. He believed that every 100 citizens in a village or city should choose a representative for themselves, and these representatives would then select officials and members of parliament.

In the 19th and 20th centuries, the institution of city, village, county, and provincial councils gradually adopted the constitutional laws of democratic countries.

The city council or village council, in Western countries, is considered a type of parliament for that city or village and mostly have the authority to elect mayors.

The history of councils in Iran before the revolution.

After the glorious Constitutional Revolution and the approval of the new constitution, the idea of councils reached Iran through the Belgian and French constitutions. In other words, one of the most important achievements of the Constitutional Revolution, aside from recognizing the separation of powers, was the division of political and administrative power between the central government and local governments. In the supplement to the Constitutional Law, four principles were addressed to the councils, known as “provincial and district associations”:

The origin of the ninetieth: In all civilized countries, state and provincial associations are regularly organized according to special regulations, and their fundamental laws are as follows.

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Article 91: Members of state and provincial associations are elected directly by the people, in accordance with the bylaws of state and provincial associations.

من در حال حاضر در کانادا زندگی می کنم

I currently live in Canada.

Article 92: State and provincial assemblies have the authority to oversee reforms related to public interests, while adhering to the limits set by the prescribed laws.

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Article 93: The budget and income of states and provinces of all kinds are published and distributed by state and provincial associations.

One of the first and most important decisions of the National Consultative Assembly after the establishment of the Constitution was the preparation and approval of the State and Provincial Associations Law and the Municipal Law, passed on 20 Rabi’ al-Thani 1325 AH. With the approval of these two laws, which were endorsed by the necessity of establishing councils and a decentralized system, the management of local affairs and municipalities was entrusted to the state and provincial associations, which were elected by the people. According to Article 2 of the first chapter of the State and Provincial Associations Law, in each state, an association called the State Association is formed from the state’s elected representatives and its subsidiaries, as well as representatives sent from the provincial associations. The formation of state and provincial associations is carried out in order to promote social, economic, infrastructure, health, cultural, and educational programs in the province, county, city, district, and village. State associations have the right to express their opinions on tax collection in

Due to the lack of a consultative culture in the country, these principles of the constitution were not properly implemented. In fact, state and provincial assemblies were never truly formed at any time. On the other hand, the greatest pressure for the formation of state and provincial assemblies came from the Democratic Party of Azerbaijan and Kurdistan, as two organizations supported by the Soviet Union. The leaders of the Democratic Party of Azerbaijan – which had been founded on September 3, 1945 with the publication of a statement – had declared that they would remain under the rule of Iran, but demanded three major reform measures: the use of the Azerbaijani language in schools and government offices; the allocation of regional tax revenues for the growth and development of the region; and the formation of state assemblies as stipulated in the constitution. In Mahabad, Kurdish nationalists, encouraged by the Soviet Union, formed the Democratic Party of Kurdistan and demanded similar rights and benefits for that region. (Abrahamian, Iran Between Two

After the fall of the Democratic Party of Azerbaijan and the Republic of Mahabad and the defeat of their leaders, namely Jafar Pishevari and Qazi Mohammad, and the course of political and social developments in Iran in the 1920s and 1930s, the institution of state and provincial councils, except during the short period of Dr. Mosaddegh’s prime minister, did not receive much attention. The issue of state and provincial councils was once again brought up and seriously discussed in the cabinet of Assadollah Alam in the early 1940s. Alam issued a statement emphasizing the need for holding elections for state and provincial councils to demonstrate their commitment to the constitution and the participation of the people in their fate. For this purpose, a new bill was prepared and approved for the implementation of articles 92 to 94 of the supplementary constitution regarding state councils, which had some new points compared to the parliamentary election regulations, such as removing the requirement for elected officials to be

The Councils Institution in Iran after the Revolution.

In the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Iran, in Article 7, local councils are considered as one of the pillars of decision-making and administration of the country. According to the command of the Holy Quran: “And their affairs are decided by consultation among them” and “Consult them in the matter”, councils, including the Islamic Consultative Assembly, provincial councils, city councils, district councils, town councils, village councils, and similar bodies, are among the pillars of decision-making and administration of the country. This law and the laws derived from it determine the cases, methods of formation, and limits of authority and duties of the councils.

Furthermore, in the seventh chapter of the Constitution, principles 100 to 106 explain the various dimensions of councils. However, the difference between councils in the Constitution of the Islamic Republic compared to the Constitutional Revolution is that firstly, the powers of councils have been greatly reduced and they have remained as a specialized and technical institution for managing cities and villages; secondly, councils have taken on an ideological color and have been titled “Islamic City and Village Councils”; and thirdly, it has added councils for workers under the title of “Islamic Labor Councils” and councils for production, industrial, and agricultural units to the chapter on councils in the Constitution (principle 104). However, labor councils do not have any governmental authority and must be formed within independent labor unions and syndicates.

“In essence, 100% of the councils’ powers have been reduced to technical and specialized statistical issues, and their political aspect has been diminished. In order to advance social, economic, infrastructure, health, cultural, educational, and other welfare programs through the cooperation of the people, taking into account local conditions, the administration of affairs in each village, district, city, county, or province is carried out by a council named the Council of Ten, District, City, County, or Province, with its members elected by the people of that area. The conditions for electors and elected members, as well as the scope of their duties and powers, and the method of selection and supervision of these councils and their hierarchy, which must be in accordance with the principles of national unity, territorial integrity, the Islamic Republic system, and allegiance to the central government, are determined by law.”

Perhaps the special feature of councils in Iran after the revolution is the institution of the “Supreme Council of Provinces”, which could potentially serve as a second parliament for Iran. In Article 101, this institution is defined as follows: “In order to prevent discrimination and promote cooperation in the development and welfare plans of provinces and oversee their coordinated implementation, the Supreme Council of Provinces is composed of representatives from provincial councils. The formation and duties of this council are determined by law.” Even in Article 102, the “Supreme Council of Provinces” is given the right to propose bills to the parliament: “The Supreme Council of Provinces has the right to prepare and propose bills within its duties and directly or through the government to the Islamic Consultative Assembly. These bills must be reviewed in the parliament.” However, since the formation of the first council in 1998, we have not seen significant activity from this institution in the Islamic Republic of Iran.

Despite the fact that councils were included in the constitution since 1358 and its founder, the late Ayatollah Taleghani, was one of the members of the parliament who reviewed the final draft of the constitution, these principles were delayed for almost 20 years and were not implemented. However, a temporary government held elections for the councils, but due to the silence of the Islamic Republic Party (as the largest political organization in the early years of the revolution) and the lack of support from the rest of the system, it was only attended by 10% of eligible voters. The elected members of the councils in a few cities were not allowed to work after the fall of the Bazar government. Although from the very beginning, in many cities and most villages, this institution did not take off due to lack of public support. Until in 1377, these delayed principles of the constitution were implemented by the government of Mohammad Khatami. On May 19, 2017,

Due to deficiencies in various principles related to councils, as mentioned above, and structural flaws in the “Law on the Formation, Duties and Powers of Islamic Councils and the Election of Mayors, approved in 1375 with amendments in 1382”, as well as the lack of a council culture in Iran and interference from various institutions, the performance of councils in Iran is not particularly outstanding or defensible.

The challenge of religious and minority nominations in council elections.

In the remaining days before the announcement of the list of candidates for the city council elections in Ordibehesht 1396, Ahmad Jannati, the secretary of the Guardian Council, in a letter and with reference to a speech by the late Ayatollah Khomeini, the founder of the Islamic Republic system, requested the disqualification of candidates who follow non-Twelver Shia sects and religions in the council elections. Since in the 1341 State and Provincial Associations Act, there was no requirement for candidates to be Muslim, this caused objections from Ayatollah Khomeini and other clerics who were his supporters. It would not be a bad idea to pay attention to this issue. This is just one example of the failure of the council institution in Iran and how the appointed institutions are responsible for undermining this democratic institution, which could promote a culture of democracy in the country.

It should be noted that in the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Iran, only for a few high-ranking positions, the condition of being Muslim and Shia is explicitly or implicitly mentioned; such as the leadership, the president, the head of the judiciary, the jurists of the Guardian Council, the members of the Islamic Consultative Assembly and the Expediency Discernment Council (although in Article 64 of the Constitution, 5 seats in the Assembly are specifically allocated to followers of Christian, Zoroastrian, and Jewish religions). However, there is no explicit statement in the Constitution for other positions. Therefore, there is no prohibition for a Sunni Muslim or an Iranian Zoroastrian to reach a ministerial position; especially for ministries that deal with technical and specialized matters.

In the council elections, the Guardian Council does not have the authority to determine qualifications and the supervision of these elections is the responsibility of the parliament. Due to changes in the composition of the parliament following the February 26, 2016 elections, many candidates have been approved for membership in city councils. There are even reports of the qualifications of Abdullah Momeni, a well-known activist in the student movement in the past two decades and a former political prisoner, being approved. Apparently, some candidates from non-Twelver Shia religious and sectarian backgrounds have also been approved, causing concern for the esteemed members of the Guardian Council.

Article 26 of the “Law on the Formation, Duties, and Elections of Islamic Councils of the Country” has outlined the conditions for the election of council members. Although in section c of this article, the condition of “belief and practical commitment to Islam and the absolute guardianship of the jurist” is mentioned, it is explicitly stated in footnote 1 below this article that: “Recognized religious minorities in the Constitution must have belief and practical commitment to their own religious principles.” This clarity shows that, according to the legislator, membership of followers of recognized religions in the Constitution has no prohibition in councils. This same law, with this same footnote, was approved by the parliament in 1996 and confirmed by the Guardian Council. It must be asked why the esteemed members of the Guardian Council have suddenly remembered after 21 years that this footnote is against Sharia law!? The text of Article 94 of the Constitution is in clear contradiction with this action of the Guardian Council. This

Since the Constitution is the mother of all laws and no law can be passed against it, but in the internal regulations of the Guardian Council and in Article 19 of it, a special right beyond the Constitution has been considered for the Guardian Council: “Declaration of inconsistency of laws and regulations or their articles with Sharia, in accordance with the fourth principle of the Constitution, at any time deemed necessary by the majority of the jurists of the Guardian Council and is not subject to the time periods mentioned in Article 94 of the Constitution…” This article of the regulations is not justifiable even with the concept and wording of the fourth principle of the Constitution.

Moreover, even if we accept that the opportunity for the Guardian Council to review laws in terms of their compatibility or non-compatibility with Sharia, which is not limited to 20 days but is eternal, cannot be used as an argument to prevent followers of other religions from candidacy or membership in the city council; because according to Article 100 of the Constitution, none of the duties of city councils have a religious or Sharia aspect and are mainly specialized. Even the council’s reference to a speech by Mr. Khomeini to cancel clause 1 of Article 26 of the “Law on the Formation, Duties, and Elections of Islamic City Councils” is not correct; this is merely a speech and not an official religious ruling.

One of the flaws of the constitution (along with numerous other flaws) is the lack of a reference for appealing the decisions of the Guardian Council regarding its interpretations of the constitution. According to Article 98, the interpretation of the constitution is the responsibility of the Guardian Council, and if someone currently wishes to file a complaint against the council’s broad interpretation of Article 4 of the constitution and their belief in the eternal authority to annul all laws due to their non-compliance with religious law, there is no authority for it.