In a meeting with the chairman and members of the new tenure of the Expediency Council this morning (Wednesday), Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei described the council as among the invaluable initiatives of the great late founder of the Islamic Republic Imam Khomeini and pointed to the three key responsibilities of this institution, namely “the discernment of expediencies,” “offering consultation in determining general policies,” and “providing solutions to the country’s problems,” stressing, “The Council must be 100 percent revolutionary in its thought and action and remain revolutionary.”
Ayatollah Khamenei recalled the delicate and heavy responsibility of the council in “the discernment and enforcement of expediencies,” adding, “Where there is an important expediency and the [Expediency] Council favors the verdict of the Islamic Consultative Assembly (Parliament) over the ruling of the Guardian Council, it (the Expediency Council) must note that the expediency that is regarded as secondary must naturally be very important, evident and clear and be enacted with the vote of an overwhelming majority of the councilors for only a specified and temporary period.”
He added, “The enforcement of expediencies must take place with a long-term and not a day-to-day view, and to identify them, meticulous, comprehensive and reasoned debates must be held with the active participation of all of the members, including the jurists of the Guardian Council.”
Ayatollah Khamenei said the realization of the second responsibility of the Council, i.e. “offering consultation to the Leader in the determination of the general policies of the establishment,” requires precise and comprehensive consideration and said, “General policies determine the geometry of the establishment and are very important.”
The Leader of the Islamic Revolution said it is necessary to distinguish between general policies in long-term issues and in temporary matters and reiterated, “Some general policies might need to be reviewed and updated and some others might be overdue.”
He recommended that the Council draw up “robust” and “solid” general policies through scholarly, reasoned, juristic and careful debates and added, “Act such that general policies be ‘strong, precise, clearly-worded and useful’ so that they would not need to be revised or corrected after a short period.”
“Being clear,” “not being subject to interpretation,” and “refraining from getting involved in the manner of enforcement,” were among the other points that Ayatollah Khamenei highlighted on the subject of the general policies of the establishment.
He described as very important the manifestation of the general policies of the establishment in the laws, policies and actions of the administration, Parliament and other branches of the government and relevant institutions and said, “General policies determine the framework of all of the country’s executive and legislative measures and the administration, the parliament, and other institutions should act in full conformity with these policies.”
In conclusion of his speech, Ayatollah Khamenei reiterated, “The Expediency Council recalls late Imam [Khomeini] and is a product of the [1979] Revolution and has profound influence in running the country; therefore, it must be ruled by the ideology of the Imam and the Revolution, it must be revolutionary in thought and action, and should not be associated with any ruling, stance or move inconsistent with the main principles of the Revolution and the valuable legacy of the late Imam.”
Lauding the different aspects of the personality of Chairman of the Expediency Council Ayatollah Hashemi Shahroodi, the Leader of the Islamic Revolution thanked the active members of the council for their efforts and described the presence of new members in this institution as fresh blood, boosting force and grounds for greater hope.”
He also commemorated the prominent and late members of the Council in its previous term, particularly Mr. Hashemi Rafsanjani as well as Va’ez Tabasi, Asgaroladi and Habibi, and added, “During years of chairing the council, Mr. Hashemi Rafsanjani discharged his responsibilities capably, prudently and keenly.”
Prior to the remarks of the Leader of the Islamic Revolution, Ayatollah Hashemi Shahroodi said, “The Expediency Council was established with the astuteness and farsightedness of the late Imam and has in various terms played an important role in serving the establishment and settling the woes of the country and devising macro policies.”
Ayatollah Hashemi Shahroodi described the council as the arm of the Leader in determining general policies and said the careful fulfillment of the heavy responsibilities of the council requires cooperation of all of the branches of the government and pillars of the establishment.