Labor protests in Iran ... is this the beginning?

[Kozmos]

On my scanners,this registers as nothing more then a fart.Moving on.

 

[boarder]

Yes this is nothing strikes are common place in Iran.

On irans political system basically Iran is a combination theocracy and democracy,
You have the electorate (the people) who vote in a parliament(293 seats I believe) elected every 4 years whom among other things are screening functions for the Cabinet,Assembly of Experts and the Guardian Council.
You also have the President also voted in by the electorate,his job is to ensure the constitution is implemented. In reality though his power is overidden by the clerics and conservatives in Iran's power structure, and by the authority of the Supreme Leader. It is the Supreme leader, not the president, who controls the armed forces.
And thirdly you have the Assembly of experts also voted in by the electorate,its a conservative body made up of 96 clerics and there job is to Its functions are to appoint, oversee and if necessary dismiss the Supreme Leader. It meets twice a year to review the performance of the Supreme Leader.

Then unelected by the electorate you have the cabinet which is chosen by the president and approved by parliament, which can also impeach them. The cabinet is chaired by the president or vice-president, who is responsible for cabinet affairs.
Then you have the Coucil of Guardians which is the most influential body,it consists of 6 theologians appointed by the leader and 6 jurists nominated by the judiciary and approved by parliament, the council has to approve all bills passed by parliament to make sure they conform to the constitution and Islamic law. The council also has the power to veto candidates in elections to parliament, local councils, the presidency and the Assembly of Experts. I think.
And lastly you have the supreme leader who appoints the head of the judiciary, the clergy members on the powerful Council of Guardians, the commanders of all the armed forces and approves the president, he is also in sole command of all the armed forces. The leader is chosen by the clerics who make up the Assembly of Experts.
Hope that clears up a few things for people who always insist on calling it a dictatorship, you notice in most news articles they are called a dictatorship when it's clearly not, one of my pet peeves.

 

[The Yankee]

Isnt a republic a government which is represented by the people meaning they were elected? I dont recall elections in Iran.

They have the Majles elections as well as those for president. There are different wings, from more liberal (at least by their standards) to the hard religious line.

 

[The Last Conformist]

Iran isnt a dictatorship.

That's certainly debatable.

How come nobody wondered if the French government was going to be overthrown by the protests there a few weeks ago. Am I missing something here?

While not likely, the fall of the French cabinet over the latest round of protests was certainly a possibility. Ahmadinejad's certainly won't over this.


As for the notion that the Iranian system "works for them", what's that supposed to mean, exactly? Every system that keeps itself in power works in a sense, but that hardly amounts to much of an endorsement (think NK).

 

[boarder]

That's certainly debatable.

Well debate away, please tell me how Iran is a dictatorship?
Did you read my explanation of how Iran's electoral and goverment functions?

 

[The Last Conformist]

Well debate away, please tell me how Iran is a dictatorship?
Did you read my explanation of how Iran's electoral and goverment functions?

No I did not, but I know the basics of how it works.

Ultimate power rests with the unelected Supreme Leader and his Council of Guardians, not the popularly elected president and parliament. If you adopt a wide definition of dictatorship, as is commonly done today, this ought pass.

 

[boarder]

No I did not, but I know the basics of how it works.

Ultimate power rests with the unelected Supreme Leader and his Council of Guardians, not the popularly elected president and parliament. If you adopt a wide definition of dictatorship, as is commonly done today, this ought pass.

Well the Assembly of experts are voted in by the people and they have the power to remove the supreme leader, they have the power to appoint,oversee and dismiss the Supreme leader, while the supreme leaders job is for life they are still appointed by people who are voted in.
The council of guardians also have to be approved by parliament which is voted in by the people.
So even though The Supreme Leader and Assembly of Experts are appointed, they are appointed by people who are voted in. They can also be removed, by people voted in, this is not how a dictatorship works.

It is set up so that each can remove the other if necessary but only with backing from other groups and so it goes round.

But 3 groups are directly voted in by the people and directly or indirectly these groups can remove any other, in a sense, its very complicated system but i still see in no way it being a dictatorship.

In democracy there is one person who is in charge but still needs the support of others, like congress and its actually similar to Iran in that respect.

 

[FriendlyFire]

Maybe the beginning of boredom, but thats about it. Protests in Iran are nothing new. Its no more indicative of an imminent overhtrowing of the government, than the protests currently going on in the US are.

now now Irans government has had a 15% approval rating
And previously there were positive signs of possible change.

Then Bush invaded Iraq and the Mullahs tightened there grip on power.

 

[Abaddon]

A false start of what? Its just a labor protest. Iran isnt a dictatorship. How come nobody wondered if the French government was going to be overthrown by the protests there a few weeks ago. Am I missing something here?

Just our western views that our "democracy's" are a stable, well thought out system that can withstand "wrong" protests, whereas in the east, the "right" kind of protest age gonig to oberthrow a horrible, unstable governemt for world peace and happyness.

 

[BasketCase]

A protest of any kind only works when the people in power care about the welfare of their citizens.

A leader who doesn't care will simply have people shot.

 

[Bozo Erectus]

That's certainly debatable.

Agreed, but IMO, yes, according to our standards, it wouldnt qualify as a true democracy, however, by the standards of the Muslim world, its a very open, free, liberal system of government.

While not likely, the fall of the French cabinet over the latest round of protests was certainly a possibility. Ahmadinejad's certainly won't over this.

The fall of the French cabinet would take place according to a mechanism thats a part of their system of government. The system of government itself wouldnt be overthrown.

As for the notion that the Iranian system "works for them", what's that supposed to mean, exactly? Every system that keeps itself in power works in a sense, but that hardly amounts to much of an endorsement (think NK).

Its more useful to compare Iran with Saudi Arabia. Both are very strict Muslim nations, yet SA is an undemocratic monarchy, and Iran is a relatively democratic society where free speech is tolerated to a much greater extent.

Thirty years ago, the Iranian people staged a revolution and overthrew a dictator. They then proceeded to put together the system of government that they wanted. In the US, only two candidates from virtually identical parties are allowed to run (except for the occasional quixotic independent, but the independent very rarely recieves equal treatment in debates and media coverage, so effectively, even then there are only two candidates from the approved parties), and the validity of their candidacy is determined by an unelected board. Who is the US to tell Iran they arent democratic enough?