Is Montazeri's death a loss for Iran?

Thu, 24 Dec 2009
By:Jameel W Karaki
KUWAIT: He is not a normal Iranian figure, either Reza Shah nor his son Mohammad, He is Grand Ayatollah Hussein Ali Montazeri, who played a major and pivotal role in the Islamic Revolution in Iran. He was the one who was supposed to lead Iran after the death of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini in 1989, he is also considered one of the top two* marja' taghlid (source of emulation) in Shiite Islam. Montazeri became one of the leading critics of the regime's domestic and foreign policy. Grand Ayatollah Hussein Ali Montazeri, Iranian cleric and scholar, was born in 1922. He died on December 20, 2009, aged 87
Montazeri had been imprisoned during Mohammad Reza Shah era from 1974 to 1978. As a result he was committed to justice and Human right violation and after the revolution he participated in the designing of the new Islamic Constitution.
Montazeri's passion for supporting human rights and his calling for a better treatment of the opponents of the Islamic republic in prisons, brought him into direct conflict with Khomeini. In 1987, thousands of prisoners were executed without proper trial, leading Montazeri to write to the ayatollah that his prison system and his judiciary were worse than that of the Shah. As a result, Khomeini sent Montazeri a letter dismissing him from the succession.
When Khomeini died in June 1989, a middle-ranking cleric, Ali Khamenei, was selected as his successor instead of Montazeri. The latter's supporters in Qom questioned Khamenei's religious credentials for this position. Iran's conservative media dominated by the current regime sought to undermine Montazeri, declaring him no longer a Grand Ayatollah and a "simple-minded cleric". But he retained a considerable following among the faithful and, in theory at least, a responsibility to interpret the rulings of the Supreme Leader. As such, his views were meant to carry weight with policymakers, but in practice the government is loyal to Khamenei.
He believed that clergies should act as advisers, representing the electorate without claiming a divine mission. He also became critical of Ayatollah Khamenei, , for issuing religious decrees. Montazeri saw Khamenei as having more of a political than a religious role by using religion and having junior religious status to be entitled to issue fatwas. This led Montazeri to be under house arrest (1997-2003) at his house. Despite his advanced years and poor health, he played a role in the political crisis that engulfed Iran after Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's heavily disputed re-election as President in 2009.
He also called three days of national mourning for the young student, Nada Agha-Soltan, and others shot dead by Paseej as some media mentioned
The question is how Iran would have evolved in the last two decades since Khomeini's death if Montazeri had become the chosen successor as Supreme Leader. Would Iran had that much problems with its relations with global community? Better economy and freedom of expression?. The conscience of Iran or the leader of Iran, or the old man, all these are names, and yet he is Montazeri. Is it a loss for Iran to lose such a man?