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WEEKLY NEWSLETTER
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Iran
Index
The government is based upon the Constitution that was approved
in a national referendum in December 1979. This republican
Constitution replaced the 1906 constitution, which, with its
provisions for a shah to reign as head of state, was the earliest
constitution in the Middle East. Soon after the Revolution,
however, on March 30 and 31, 1979, the provisional government of
Mehdi Bazargan asked all Iranians sixteen years of age and older to
vote in a national referendum on the question of whether they
approved of abolishing the monarchy and replacing it with an
Islamic republic. Subsequently, the government announced that a 98-
percent majority favored abrogating the old constitution and
establishing such a republic. On the basis of this popular mandate,
the provisional government prepared a draft constitution drawing
upon some of the articles of the abolished 1906 constitution and
the French constitution written under Charles de Gaulle in 1958.
Ironically, the government draft did not allot any special
political role to the clergy or even mention the concept of
velayat-e faqih.
Although the provisional government initially had advocated a
popularly elected assembly to complete the Constitution, Khomeini
indicted that this task should be undertaken by experts.
Accordingly the electorate was called upon to vote for an Assembly
of Experts from a list of names approved by the government. The
draft constitution was submitted to this seventy-three member
assembly, which was dominated by Shia clergy. The Assembly of
Experts convened in August 1979 to write the constitution in final
form for approval by popular referendum. The clerical majority was
generally dissatisfied with the essentially secular draft
constitution and was determined to revise it to make it more
Islamic. Produced after three months of deliberation, the final
document, which was approved by a two- thirds majority of the
Assembly of Experts, differed completely from the original draft.
For example, it contained provisions for institutionalizing the
office of supreme religious jurist, or faqih, and for
establishing a theocratic government.
The first presidential elections took place in January 1980,
and elections for the first Majlis were held in March and May of
1980. The Council of Guardians, a body that reviews all legislation
to ensure that laws are in conformity with Islamic principles, was
appointed during the summer of 1980. Presidential elections were
held again in 1981 and 1985. The second Majlis was elected in 1984.
Data as of December 1987
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