The following is the full text of the speech delivered on July 11, 2007 by Ayatollah Khamenei the Leader of the Islamic Revolution in a meeting with members of the Guardian Council.
In the Name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful
I welcome all the dear brothers and sisters, the honorable members of the Guardian Council and the members of supervision boards who have undertaken these great and important responsibilities. I hope that they will achieve divine approval by carrying out these heavy responsibilities.
The issue of the Guardian Council in the Constitution of our country is a very important, great and exceptional issue. The responsibility of deciding whether the laws passed by the Majlis are compatible with our holy religion and the Constitution is a very great responsibility. If such a responsibility did not exist, there would not be any guarantee that the government would remain Islamic and legitimate. This is a sensitive issue and it guarantees that the government will continue to enjoy an Islamic life. The responsibility of interpreting the Constitution is also a very heavy and significant responsibility. When there is ambiguity, for a certain reason, in a clause in the Constitution, the Guardian Council has the final say. The opinion of the Guardian Council is as credible as that clause in the Constitution. This is a very important issue. Besides, the responsibility of supervising elections and ensuring the health of elections is one of the greatest and most important tasks which have been entrusted to the Guardian Council by the Constitution. If the Guardian Council does not supervise elections and if the health of elections is not confirmed by the Guardian Council, then the essence of election will be questioned and its credibility will be lost, no matter if it is parliamentary elections, Assembly of Experts elections, presidential elections or any other election in which the Guardian Council is responsible for supervision. All of these essential responsibilities fall on the Guardian Council.
The inclusion of the Guardian Council in the Constitution proved that there was a proper and deep understanding of the affairs of the country. Besides, it was considered an appropriate, wise and reasonable course of action because it was similar to other rational systems throughout the world. The day when the issue of establishing the Guardian Council was raised, there was a general understanding that such an organization was necessary. Of course, common sense dictated that there should be such a regulatory organization to ensure that the Islamic government will make Islamic and religious moves. Even at that time when we took a look at other modern systems in the world, we saw that a similar system existed everywhere. Perhaps one cannot find any well-established and rational system in which there is not an organization for supervising the enforcement of laws and regulations. This is universal. Of course, the principles and values of each system are different from others. But almost everywhere, there exists such an organization to ensure that what is being done by the government is in line with the values and the goals of that system. In some places, this organization is called the Constitutional Court. In some other places, it is called the Guardian of the Constitution. They give it such names. In our country, it is called the Guardian Council.
Ever since the victory of the Islamic Revolution, we have seen a number of people who question the essence of the Guardian Council under different pretexts. In our opinion, this questioning is unfair. It shows that they are ill-informed about the issues of the world and the existing facts in the world. Without the Guardian Council, without an organization which guaranties the health of the government, it is not sensible to think that a system with principles, values and goals can fulfill its function.
Therefore, the inclusion of the Guardian Council in the Constitution was a necessary, wise and rational thing to do. Today, the more we move forward, the more we realize the significance of the Guardian Council.
The existence of ample evidence makes one realize what a good idea it was to include the Guardian Council in the Constitution and what a great blessing Allah the Exalted bestowed on us by helping us do this. It makes one realize what a great thing our magnanimous Imam (r.a.) did by standing up against fallacies and defending the Guardian Council.
If you have paid attention, you have realized that the Guardian Council is one of the organizations which the enemies of the Islamic Revolution constantly bombard with their propaganda. Perhaps there is not any era during which they forgot to focus on it. They are unhappy about the existence of this important and influential organization. And we should express our gratitude to the honorable gentlemen in the Guardian Council - both the Islamic jurisprudents of the Islamic Republic and the honorable legal experts - who managed to carry out this great task by observing the principles which the people expected them to observe. They did this despite the fact that the Guardian Council seems to be a small organization. The people expect that whatever the Guardian Council does, it does it by acting within the legal framework. They expect the Guardian Council to have unity and solidarity and avoid delays in carrying out its responsibilities. Thankfully, all these things have been carried out over the long period of time the Guardian Council has been in charge of these responsibilities.
I would tell you that the issue of supervision and the responsibility of supervision boards - whose decisions finally go through the Guardian Council - are also very important. It is not surprising if certain people find fault with, complain or question the essence of this. After all, there are different opinions. The important thing is that the individual or the organization in charge should know what it is that they are responsible for and what they are doing.
The work that you are carrying out is very important. In summary, this work signifies that those who are responsible for making decisions in the country and the people who are entrusted with the fate of the country - whether as members of the Assembly of Experts, as members of the Majlis or as the President - should have the necessary qualifications. Not every person can be entrusted with the fate of the people. Not every person with any personality, with any beliefs and interests and with any level of knowledge and understanding can be allowed to write laws for a country with 70 million people who enjoy such greatness and such a historical background. Not any individual can be allowed to tell such a nation what to do and what not to do. This has certain requirements. A person who is supposed to choose the Leader should have certain qualifications. Not any person can decide who has the right qualifications to be the Leader. Not any person can choose or dismiss the Leader. This is the responsibility of the Assembly of Experts. Only people with special qualifications are allowed to do this.
The same is true of the people who are supposed to pass laws for this country - that is to say, the people who decide which rails the train of the executive branch should run along - because the fate of the country is, in fact, in the hands of these people. Not any individual without the necessary qualifications can sit in this sensitive position. This requires certain qualifications. The same is true of the person who is supposed to be the head of the executive branch - that is to say, the person who has access to all the wealth and all the resources and facilities of the country for 4 years in order to manage, organize and develop the country and solve its problems. Not any person can occupy such a position. He should have certain qualifications. Who should determine whether he has these qualifications or not? Is it not necessary to have an organization which determines whether this person or these people have these qualifications or not? It is obvious that such an organization is necessary. This organization is the Guardian Council and its affiliates which are in charge of supervision. Notice how important this responsibility is. When we realize how important it is, then we will realize why the movements which are against the Islamic Republic attack this organization so strongly and broadcast so much propaganda against it. Foreign propaganda machines are designed only to do this. One of the things which they always speak about - particularly during the time of elections - is the issue of vetting carried out by the Guardian Council.
Approving or disqualifying candidates is one of the responsibilities. If we take away this responsibility from the Islamic Republic, nothing will remain of it. How can a person - who does not firmly believe in the principles of the Revolution, who is not morally healthy, who is not honest, who is not committed to the interests of his country as much as he is committed to the interests of foreigners in political arenas - be allowed to, for example, occupy the highest position in the executive or legislative branches? Is this appropriate? The supervision of the Guardian Council over elections is one of the most important things that it does. It is a very important and absolutely necessary thing to do. We should not at all pay attention to the fact that certain people create a hostile environment to oppose this. Of course, this work should be done in the right way. The legality of this work is as important as the work itself. That is to say, we should properly understand what the standards are and we should approve or disqualify individuals on the basis of these standards. We should not violate these standards and we should not ignore or neglect to enforce them either.
These standards are the same as rules and regulations. We should not involve our personal interests. Our political and partisan orientations should not be involved in this. We should not act by taking the interests of certain people into consideration. The only standard should be the standard of law, both on the issue of vetting and on the issue of approving the laws passed by the Majlis. We should only regard the law as our standard. The law should be enforced. We may think that it is not advisable to act within the law because of a certain consideration. But observing the law is more important than paying attention to that consideration. If rules and regulations are violated because of the personal opinion of certain people and because of certain considerations, there will no longer be any rules and regulations. If one day somebody thinks it is expedient to do one thing and another day somebody else thinks it is expedient to do something else or if on a single day two people act in two different ways, then rules and regulations will be completely sidelined.
Rules have priority over all considerations and over all outlooks or attitudes. Of course, the Guardian Council may change its opinion based on a fiqhi or legal outlook. There is nothing wrong with this. Any mujtahid may change his opinion. One day he may come up with a certain idea when he addresses a specific issue. Another day, he may come up with a different idea when he looks at the same issue. There is nothing wrong with this. If the Guardian Council changes its opinion in different cases, this is not a fault. However, even this change should be compatible with the law and it should be done in a principled way.
Another point, which I have discussed before, is that whatever is issued by the Guardian Council as its opinion or verdict - whether about the Constitution or the compatibility or incompatibility of other laws with sharia - should be accompanied by solid evidence and convincing reasons. These reasons provide us with a valuable collection of legal justifications. It can be a reference for all those who work on legal and other such issues. Sometimes in the Guardian Council many discussions are held on a certain issue, many good things are said and different arguments and counterarguments are given. These are very good things. These are very valuable things. These things should be recorded and passed on to experts so that everybody recognizes the importance of what the Guardian Council does.
Anyway, the Guardian Council is, thankfully, a divine blessing for us. We should appreciate and preserve this blessing. Preserving this blessing does not mean that we should only respect it in words. It means that we should improve, as much as we can, the output in the Guardian Council. And this is the responsibility of you honorable friends, brothers and sisters.
I hope that Allah the Exalted will reward you and bestow His blessings on you. I hope that He will reward you for your efforts and make the holy heart of the Imam of the Age (may our souls be sacrificed for his sake) satisfied with us.
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Greetings be upon you and Allah's mercy and blessings