The significance of people’s role in the viewpoint of Imam Khomeini
Another important characteristic of the path of the Imam is the role of the general public both in elections - the Imam started a great democratic movement in this regard - and other social matters. Revolutions were prevalent in the first half of the 20th century, and various kinds of revolutions were started in the east and the west. But holding a referendum to determine the form of government only two months after the victory of a revolution has been unprecedented in the history of all revolutions. This happened in Iran due to the efforts made by the Imam. Less than a year had passed since the victory of the Revolution when the Constitution was formulated and ratified... Our elections were never cancelled even during the most difficult days of the war when Tehran was being bombed by the enemy. Not even a singe election has been postponed until this day. Which democracy has been like this? No democracies, let alone revolutions, have held elections as punctually and carefully as we have. This is the path of the Imam.
In various other issues that were not related to elections the Imam used to pay attention to the role of the people. He used to explicitly emphasize the role of the people. Once he said, "If government officials fail to do what they are supposed to do, the people will step in voluntarily."
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