Sistani's Views on Government

David Asednik of Oxblog wants the media to do more to examine Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani's views on government. One way to find these out, of course, might be to ask him. On a more serious note, however, I'm not sure such an examination would reveal much, simply because it's unclear to me whether Sistani has really developed his views on proper government. I doubt that branch of jurisprudence was encouraged under Saddam Hussein. The only things I know for sure are that he rejects Ayatollah Khomeini's doctrine of velayat-e faqih (rule of the jurist) and wants Iraqi law to be based on Islamic law. This rules out an Iranian-style theocracy, and suggests something similar to the constitution currently being worked on for Afghanistan, or maybe an Iran without the Faqih and Council of Guardians, which is basically where the Reformists there are heading. The only alternatives I can think of would be a monarchy or military rule of some kind, which doesn't seem likely. As it is, Sistani is mainly reacting to things others are proposing, and it may be that's all he really plans on or has interest in.

UPDATE: Swopa's thoughts are also worth reading.