COMPETITION UNDER SYSTEMIC RELIGIOUS CONSTRAINTS: Presidential elections in Iran

By inserting the term ‘republic’ (Jomhuri) in the place of ‘government’ (Hokumat), Ayatollah Khomeini attributed to the state not only the divine legitimacy of the Vali-ye faqih but also popular legitimacy. The absolute sovereignty Khomeini theorised for his ‘jurisconsult’ was shared in part with, popular sovereignty, which could express itself – albeit always under the limits of shariʿa – through the vote. Islamic republicanism thus gives rise to institutional dualism. This chapter examines Iranian electoral dynamics in light of this duality. On the one hand, are constitutional institutions such as parliament and the president of the Republic with his ministers and on the other hand, in order to guarantee the Republic’s Islamic nature and the divine sovereignty of the Vali-ye faqih, bodies such as the Council of Guardians, the Council of Experts, and the Council for Discernment were established. This political model, unlike ‘Islamic government’, tries to establish a basis upon which secular principles coexist with religious ones. Therefore, precisely because of the historical-political complexity of Iran, between 1979 and 1980, a unique institutional system was born, which, can be defined, the chapter argues, as ‘hybrid’.