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The Grand Ayatollah Sistani’s Emphasis on Continuing Reforms: The Government Gains Its Legitimacy Only From the People

SHAFAQNA- The Grand Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Sistani took important stances on Iraq developments and the reform movement.

The stances of the supreme religious authority which were read on Friday, 17th Rabi’ al-Awal 1441 AH, on the podium of Friday sermons in Karbala by Hojjat al-Islam Safi, are as follows:
-Emphasizing demonstrations to be peaceful, and condemning any kind of violence.
-Emphasis on the enactment for fair elections law and selection of trusted electoral commission.
-Any government, except the authoritarian regimes, gains its legitimacy only from the people, and no one else except the people gives it legitimacy, and the will of the nation is emanated as a result of general elections.
-So far, no real action has taken place in response to demands of the people, especially dealing with the biggest corrupt ones and the return of properties, and no special privileges have been abolished.
-Ruling forces have been under illusion if they think they can escape from their responsibilities by delaying reforms.
-After the recent events, Iraq will never be like what it was before.
-The Iraqi reform movement is a national movement and only belongs to Iraqi people.
-It is not permissible for any foreign faction to interfere to this movement because their interference brings great risks.
The full text is as follows:
The religious authority once again reiterates its stances on the current protests:
First, supporting the protests and emphasizing the process of demonstrations to be peaceful and free from any violence and to condemn abuses of peaceful demonstrators by killing, maiming, kidnapping, intimidation, and also condemnation of attack on security forces, public organizations and private properties. The prosecution and punishment of those involved in these unlawful acts are mandatory according to law and its abandon is not permitted.
Second, any government, except the authoritarian regimes, gains its legitimacy only from the people and no one else gives it legitimacy and the will of the nation is emanated in the result of general elections, if it is conducted in a transparent and fair manner. Therefore, it is important to accelerate the ratification of a fair election law that restores citizens’ confidence in the electoral process and does not favor political parties, and provides a real opportunity to change forces with new ones. Enactment of a law that does not give voters such an opportunity is unacceptable and useless. In addition, it is necessary to adopt the new Electoral Commission law, which oversees the election process, which is qualified, impartial, specialized and acceptable to the public.
Third, although the protests have been going on for a long time, the main part of the protesters’ demands, specially the punishment of the economic corrupter, the return of the properties they confiscated, the abolition of unjust and overriding privileges to a particular group at the expense of the others, avoiding quotas and favoritism in special concessions have not been achieved yet. And this casts doubt on the power or seriousness of the ruling political forces to carry out the demands of the demonstrators, and this is not in the interest of making trust through realization of real reforms.
Fourth, citizens have found no way but to hold unprecedented demonstrations to get rid of the increasing corruption in all areas and levels and prevalent corruption among the ruling forces, and if the ruling forces believe they can escape from their responsibility by delaying real reforms, they have been under illusion. The situation after these protests will never be the same as before, so they should be aware of this.
Fifth, the Reform Movement is a national movement that only belongs to Iraqi people, and just Iraqis have its heavy responsibility, and no foreign faction with any approach is allowed to interfere because foreign interference poses great risks, and turns the country into a scene of conflict and settlement between international and regional forces, so people will be the main losers.

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