Expert meeting

The meeting of experts ( Persian مجلس مؤسسان, DMG maǧlis-e muʾassasān ) was an organ of the Iranian Revolution and had the task of drafting the new constitution of the Islamic Republic of Iran . The election of the expert assembly took place on August 3, 1979. Both the National Front and numerous other political groups protested against the election because the names of their candidates were not printed on the ballot papers. Despite the massive protests, the assembly met for the first time on August 19, 1979, and the new constitution was adopted on November 15, 1979.

prehistory

Ruhollah Khomeini had a draft constitution prepared in Neauphle-le-Château while he was in exile in France . Its new Iranian constitution was composed of the Constitution of Iran of December 30, 1906, which emerged from the Constitutional Revolution and the constitution of the Fifth French Republic .

On February 2, 1979 Khomeini announced:

"I will form an Islamic government and present a constitution for an Islamic republic that has already been drawn up but not yet published to the people in a referendum."

- Ruhollah Khomeini.

The first interim prime minister of Iran, Mehdi Bāzargān , was later commissioned by Khomeini to draw up a constitution in parallel. Khomeini rejected this draft, however, and wanted a council of experts consisting only of clergy to work out the new constitution.

Referendum and electoral law

After the referendum in March 1979 and the official vote of 98.2% for an Islamic republic and against the Shah , there were also moderate forces within the clerical leadership group who spoke out in favor of a constituent assembly. Ruhollah Khomeini's strict stance on the Velayat-e faqih (rule of the supreme legal scholar ), on the other hand, did not provide for a constitution supported by all political and social groups.

According to the electoral law of June 30, 1979, the members of the assembly of experts were elected in order to achieve a halfway balance, but the qualification requirements for a candidacy could only be met by Islamic jurists and religious scholars. At the latest with the promulgation of this electoral law, the Iranian revolution, a revolution of all opposition movements, had failed. A draft constitution that was supported by all social currents could no longer be implemented.

Choice and way of working

In the election on August 3, 1979 , 428 Islamic legal scholars stood for election, previously nominated by the political and religious groups, which in turn could only be admitted by the Revolutionary Council , an inner circle around Khomeini. Ayatollah Mahmud Taleghani became chairman; the Islamic Republican Party (IRP) led by Mohammad Beheschti won 60 of the 73 seats.

The 73 members of the expert assembly met for the first time on August 19, 1979 to draft and submit a constitution within 31 days. As early as September 12, 1979, the assembly of experts adopted the basic principle of the Iranian constitution with the rule of religious scholars. In fact, a confirmation and complete adoption of the draft constitution that Khomeini had already prepared in French exile. The only point of contention was the position of the president. On November 15, 1979, 53 of the 73 members of the Expert Assembly voted for the draft constitution with 8 against, 4 abstentions and 8 invalid votes.

The End

With the confirmation of the constitution by the referendum on December 3, 1979 , the work of the assembly of experts ended. The result of the referendum of March 30, 1979 with 98.2% approval was included by the assembly of experts in Article 1 of the Iranian constitution to confirm the legitimation for an Islamic republic. According to official information, the constitution was adopted on December 3, 1979 with an equally high level of approval. Unofficial reports assume an election boycott in which only a third of all eligible voters voted and an approval rate of around 60%.

See also

• Political system of Iran
• Political Development of Iran
• expert advice
• Arbitration Council
• Guardian Council

literature

• Udo Steinbach : The development of the political system in Iran since the revolution. In: Iran in crisis, setting the course for the future. Friedrich Ebert Stiftung. Bonn, 1980.
• Hans-Peter Drögemüller: Iranian diary, 5 years of revolution. Libertarian Association. 1983
• Bahman Nirumand : Iran, behind the bars the flowers are withering. Rowohlt Publishing House. 1985

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b c} Wahied Wahdat-Hagh : The Islamic Republic of Iran. Berlin 2003, ISBN 3-8258-6781-1 , p. 233 ff
2. ↑ Michael Ploetz, Tim Szatkowski: Files on the Foreign Policy of the Federal Republic of Germany 1979 Vol. I: January to June 30, 1979. R. Oldenbourg Verlag, Munich 2010, ISBN 978-348659-191-0 , p. 152
3. ↑ princeton.edu ( Memento of the original from September 24, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Assembly of Experts Ratifying the 1979 Constitution