Constitutional referendum in Iran in 1989

The constitutional referendum in Iran in 1989 was a referendum on July 28, 1989 on the revised constitution of the Islamic Republic of Iran . It became necessary after the Supreme Legal Scholar Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini died and he was the Supreme Legal Scholar and Revolutionary Leader under Article 1 of the Constitution. The referendum was held at the same time as the 1989 Iranian presidential election.

Constitutional amendment

The constitution, drawn up by the assembly of experts in September 1979 and confirmed in a referendum in December 1979 , was tailored to the revolutionary leader Ruhollah Khomeini. After his death, Khomeini feared a power vacuum and in early 1988 created the Arbitration Council , which should ultimately have the last word and thus the decision in disputed laws between Parliament and the Guardian Council . This arbitration council, not mentioned in the old constitution, was legitimized in Article 112. Article 5 and Article 107 have been changed to the effect that the Supreme Leader of the Ummah no longer has to be the supreme (religious) legal scholar at the same time, but who [should] be suitable for the office who, in addition to Islamic scholarship, has appropriate political, administrative and social skills . Furthermore, Article 111 was added to enable the Expert Council (Article 108) to remove the revolutionary leader from his office. The office of prime minister was abolished, but this office was merged with the office of president (Article 113). Article 176 was created for the Security Council and increased its staff. A total of 46 articles of the constitution were amended.

Result

	be right	%
Yes	16,025,459	97.54
No	398,867	2.43
invalid	4,650	0.03
total	16,428,976	100%

This constitution of July 28, 1989 is still in force today.

See also

• History of Iran since 1979
• Constitutional referendum in Iran in March 1979
• Constitutional referendum in Iran in December 1979

Remarks

1. ↑ Ayatollah Khomeini was the unrestricted religious leader of Iran from 1979 to 1989. His successor, Ali Khamene'i , who was elected as his successor by the Council of Experts on June 4, 1989 , and whose religious qualification did not have, had to by the constitutional amendment and that Referendum of July 28, 1989 to be legitimized in retrospect.
2. ↑ Removing Khomeini from office would have been unthinkable.
3. ↑ The result of the approval of over 97% was almost identical to the result of Akbar Hāschemi Rafsanjāni , who became the new president with almost 95%.

Individual evidence

1. ^ Wahied Wahdat-Hagh : The Islamic Republic of Iran. Berlin 2003, ISBN 3-8258-6781-1 , p. 253 ff
2. ^ Wahied Wahdat-Hagh : The Islamic Republic of Iran. Berlin 2003, ISBN 3-8258-6781-1 , p. 289
3. ↑ servat.unibe.ch Constitution of the IRI, accessed on February 7, 2013