A few days after the publication of the letter of Ahmad Ghabel, a religious reformist who criticized the supreme leader for “assisting a gang's takeover of the country” and “dictatorship of one vote,” in his last speech on the floor of the Majlis, representative from Tabriz Akbar Alami blasted Ayatollah Khamenei for miseries imposed on the nation by institutions under his control.
What made the Tabriz representative’s criticism all the more significant was his assertion that "the supreme leader is equal to others in the eyes of law" and that "the supreme leader and his appointees are responsible to the people and must be held accountable for their actions."
Such criticisms of top government officials are ordinary happenings in other countries. However, in Iran, the reaction of the judiciary and paramilitary pressure groups to the slightest criticism of the supreme leader’s responsibilities or performance has been very severe and violent.
Akbar Alami’s speech on the Majlis floor, and his reference to Ayatollah Khamenei’s legal duties, finds new meaning given the Ahmadinejad administration’s mismanagement of the economy, resulting in high inflation and unemployment rates, which have diminished the popularity of the president (and those supporting him) in the public's eye.
The administration, which has been enjoying high oil prices (above hundred dollars per barrel), because of its propaganda efforts, has been identified in the minds of the people as the supreme leader’s favorite administration and, as a result, Ayatollah Khamenei has come to bear the blame for the government’s failures.
On the other hand, Iran's hardline stance in the nuclear case, which has resulted in the passage of Security Council resolutions against Iran, exacerbating the nation's economic woes, has been identified as Ayatollah Khamenei's chosen policy.
The handling of the eight Majlis elections, which were ridiculed as the Islamic Republic's worst election experience, and which was engineered by the Guardian Council, are among other criticisms pointed at the supreme leader.
That Mr. Alami's directed his latest criticism at the supreme leader and the Guardian Council, and not Ahmadinejad, is because of the vast powers given to the supreme leader by the Constitution, enabling him to control all government branches in the Islamic Republic.
An official who has the largest arsenal of legal powers in Iran's history, and in whom the largest amount of constitutional powers are gathered, must find a way of holding institutions under his rule accountable. Otherwise, the supreme leader will no longer be able to blame officials under him, including those in the executive branch, for failures and hope that people will do so too.
No one has yet volunteered in the Islamic Republic to supervise the supreme leader's performance. In the future though, this task may find some volunteers, perhaps in the Assembly of Experts, headed by Hashemi Rafsanjani.
