All Power to the Leader

Iranian "Supreme" Leader Ali Khamene'i's comments about eliminating the country's elected presidency may be only one part of a broader push for clerical monarchy:

"Khamenei will further control the legislative branch with the recent approval of the 'Parliamentary Supervision over Members of Parliament' bill. On Tuesday, September 27, the Iranian Parliament approved Article 4 of the 'Parliamentary Supervision over Members of Parliament' bill, which specifies a method for Parliament to expel certain MPs from the body. Based on one of the provisions in this bill, if the Council of Supervision votes to expel a certain member, he or she is not able to file a legal objection through the judicial system. The bill completely removes the legal immunity of members of the parliament in fulfilling their role as representatives.

"This provides Khamenei or his aides with the ability to eliminate any parliamentary member deemed to be a trouble maker. By eliminating the position of the presidency, the Supreme Leader effectively dissolves a semi-independent branch of the government whose head is directly chosen by the people, after the Guardian Council vets the candidates seeking to run in the election.

"It appears that discussion about eliminating the position of the president has been underway for a few months. According to Fars News, a semi-official news agency, a powerful deputy in the parliament, Mohammad Dehghan, revealed that the office of the Supreme Leader had assigned a group of legal experts to study the feasibility of a shift in the political structure of the country."