A President Should Not Stand Up

09/04/2008

I have witnessed in many countries - in which the government was a republican system and not a monarchy - that the relationship between their high-ranking officials and those who ranked lower was similar to the relationship between a master and his servant. I have witnessed this on numerous occasions, and it is no exaggeration. One such famous country official from another country - whom you know pretty well and whose name I am not going to mention - addressed the vice-president, who ranked second in the country's hierarchy, without using the word "mister". And the vice-president always said "yes sir" in response.

Some people were trying to imitate that behavior in our country under the influence of those cultures. During the time when Abol-Hassan Banisadr was the president, he would never stand up [as a sign of respect] when the Martyr Mohammad Ali Rajai entered the room. We complained to him and asked him why he would not stand up, and this was the response he made: "A president should never stand up when the prime minister comes in."

* Related by the Supreme Leader in a meeting with country officials on January 12, 1999

^{* Source: http://english.khamenei.ir}