Ali Salman
Pro-regime groups believe that Ali Salman, the formal head of al-Wefaq and also a cleric, is “obeying the orders of Isa Qassim, his former teacher and superior in the clerical hierarchy”. The independence of ‘Ali Salman as the formally elected leader of al-Wefaq is believed to be limited by his obligation, as a cleric who has not yet reached the level of independent reasoning (ijtihad), to submit his decisions to the sanction of a higher-ranking scholar. Because its leadership is considered subservient to an external religious authority, and therefore, they argue al-Wefaq is considered as lacking the transparency for the normal exercise of internal democracy.