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WEEKLY NEWSLETTER
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Iran
Index
Bani Sadr was the first popularly elected president of the
Islamic Republic. He assumed office with a decisive electoral
vote--75 percent-- and with the blessing of Khomeini. Within
seventeen months, however, he had been impeached by the Majlis, and
dismissed from office. Bani Sadr was destroyed, at least in part,
by the same issue that had brought down Bazargan, that is, the
efforts of the government to reestablish its political authority.
Ironically, prior to his election as president, Bani Sadr had
advocated decentralization of political power and had even helped
to undermine the Bazargan government. As president, Bani Sadr
became a convert to the principle that centralization of power was
necessary; soon, he was embroiled in a bitter political dispute
with his former allies. The downfall of Bani Sadr, however, also
involved a more fundamental issue, namely, the distribution of
power among the new political institutions of the Republic. The
fate of Bani Sadr demonstrated that the legislature was independent
from and at least equal to the executive, the reverse situation of
the Majlis under the Pahlavi shahs.
The conflict between Bani Sadr and the Majlis, which was
dominated by the IRP, began when the assembly convened in June
1980. The first issue of controversy concerned the designation of
a prime minister. Although the Constitution provides for the
president to select the prime minister, it also stipulates that the
prime minister must have the approval of the Majlis. After a
protracted political struggle, the Majlis forced Bani Sadr to
accept its own nominee, Rajai, as prime minister. The president,
who had aspired to serve as a strong figure similar to de Gaulle
when he was president of France, was unable to reconcile his
differences with the prime minister, who preferred to formulate
government policies in consultation with the Majlis. As Bani Sadr
continued to lose influence over political developments to the
Majlis, his own credibility as an effective leader was undermined.
The Majlis also frustrated Bani Sadr's attempts to establish the
authority of the presidency in both domestic and foreign affairs.
For example, the leaders of the IRP in the Majlis manipulated Bani
Sadr's efforts to deal with Iran's international crises, the
dispute with the United States over the hostages, and the war with
Iraq that began in September 1980 in order to discredit him. When
Bani Sadr tried to ally himself with the interests of the
disaffected, secularized middle class, the IRP mobilized thousands
of supporters, who were incited to assault persons and property
derisively identified as "liberal," the euphemism used for any
Iranian whose values were perceived to be Western. Bani Sadr
attempted to defend his actions by writing editorials in his
newspaper, Enqelab-e Islami, that criticized IRP policies
and denounced the Majlis and other IRP-dominated institutions as
being unconstitutional. Eventually, the leaders of the IRP
convinced Khomeini that Bani Sadr was a danger to the Revolution.
Accordingly, in June 1981 the Majlis initiated impeachment
proceedings against the president and found him guilty of
incompetence. Bani Sadr went into hiding even before Khomeini
issued the decree dismissing him from office. At the end of July,
he managed to flee the country in an airplane piloted by
sympathetic air force personnel.
Data as of December 1987
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