SAID HALIM PASHA’S CONCEPTION OF SOVEREIGNTY AND PROPOSED GOVERNMENT SYSTEM

This paper analyzes Said Halim Pasha’s conception of sovereignty and his proposed system of government. Said Halim Pasha was a high-level public official in late Ottoman era, president of the era’s most prominent political party, the Committee of Union and Progress, a Grand Vizier, and an Islamist thinker. In accordance with Islamism, he proposed that influential government functions be elected, except for the legislative body. Accordingly, the head of state and the parliament would be elected by the people. Despite being elected, these functions are not legitimized by popular sovereignty, but by Islamic principles, as they represent political power stemming from sharia. Consequently, sovereignty does not emanate from the people; divine will is superior. Therefore, Said Halim Pasha’s conception of sovereignty can be deemed as “providential sovereignty.” Since Said Halim Pasha proposes that the head of state be elected, he has adopted the republican form of government. His system of government resembles aspects of the parliamentary system, as well as that of the presidential system. Hence, it is an eclectic system. In this system, legislative authority does not belong to the elected parliament but to Islamic jurists. As a result, Said Halim Pasha’s proposed system of government is not compatible with present-day democratic governments