Oleg Kusov, exclusively to Vestnik Kavkaza
Thinking about the peculiarities of regimes in the Middle Eastern countries, Vladimir Sazhin, an expert of the Institute of Oriental Studies of the RAS, cited Winston Churchill: “Democracy is the worst form of government, except all those others that have been tried.” There is an opinion that the West imposes its views about governmental structure on the East. But what is the most effective government for the Arab countries and Iran? According to respondents to Vestnik Kavkaza, these countries have a delicate combination of political and religious segments which have absorbed both democratic and absolutist categories.
“Of course each country has its own national peculiarities, which predetermine a certain system of government. Speaking about Egypt and Syria, these are two Arab countries (in the 1950-1960s they were one country called the United Arab Republic) which are close to European standards. At the same time, despite activation of Islamist elements and difficulties in the internal political situation, in Egypt and Syria the tendency to Europeanization is typical for the majority of educated people who have no extremist Islamist views. I think the majority of the population would be satisfied with a parliamentary republic with a strong president, but the parliament should be independent from him,” Vladimir Sazhin says.
“The Islamic State of Iran is rather democratic. Like any republican system, the Iranian constitution requires separation of legislative (the unicameral parliament), executive (the president who is elected for four years and heads the government), and judicial powers (the judicial panel, the head of which is responsible only to the Supreme Leader). However, Iran is a unique state based on the system of Velayat-e faghih, i.e. government of the Shiah Supreme Leader. The phenomenon relies on a succession of governments of imams – one of Shiism's principles. The theoretical foundations of the government were developed by Khomeini and registered in the constitution of the country. Velayat-e faghih is a socio-political structure based on the canonized power of a recognized, fair guardian jurist who is the highest instance of spiritual Shiah credibility and elected by a narrow circle of Islamic top Shiah expert clergies. The Supreme Leader of Iran has full power till the end of his life – spiritual, state, political and military. As the spiritual leader of the nation he is Faghih – the head of the Shiah community; as the state political leader of the country he is Rakhbar; he is also the Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces.
Several purely theocratic institutions operate under the leader: The Expediency Discernment Council of the System, the Guardian Council (the Assembly for Revising the Constitution), the Assembly of Experts (the Council of Experts), the Political Revival Council, the Cultural Revolution Supreme Council.
The councils resemble directorates of the CPSU Central Committee which governed the USSR. Even though the USSR's constitution was the most democratic on paper, in fact there was no democracy in the country. But in Iran there is democracy, but within strict limits of Islamic rules,” Sazhin explains.
Answering the question on copying Western forms of government by Iran, Sazhin says: “What does Western forms of government mean? There was democracy in Great Novgorod. There is democracy in Japan and South Korea today, as well as in Brazil, India, Turkey and Israel. All these countries are situated in different parts of the planet and have the different mentalities of the people who populate them. This is not Western, but a modern civilized system with its advantages and disadvantages.
Iran has been discussing for a long time whether the system of lifelong governance of a certain ayatollah who has full power, while the elected president is actually the prime minister, is effective.
So it is senseless and unfair to make recommendations to the Arabs and the Iranians about their path. They should choose it themselves. But for some reason the countries which, as you say, have adopted the Western form of government, achieved the greatest successes in science, culture, industry, economy and living standards in the last 200 years.”
Leonid Syukiyaynen, the professor of the HSE, says that “the Islamic tradition of thinking relies on the idea that the most acceptable modern form of government is a presidential form (there are monarchies among the countries). Anyway, a head of state is a central figure. The government is under his direct management. Even if there is a post of prime minister, it is a rather technical post. It is the president who governs and makes decisions. Speaking about the parliament, I cannot say it plays an insignificant role; but in comparison with the president, the president is a greater center of power. It doesn’t mean everybody is a dummy in the parliament. There is opposition in parliaments of some Arab countries. Sometimes the parliament adopts a law, but the president rejects it, as he disagrees with it. At the same time, sometimes the president makes a decision, but later the Constitutional Court finds it unconstitutional. However, in general the presidential form and monarchy prevail. At the same time, there are different monarchies. Saudi Arabia is an absolute monarchy. Jordan and Morocco have parliamentary or dualist monarchies. It is difficult to imagine any alternative models for these countries today.”
