KHATAMI, KARROOBI AND ANSARI WALKED OUT OF THE EC MEETING
TEHRAN 15 Mar. (IPS) President Mohammad Khatami, in an unprecedented action, walked out Saturday in protest from a meeting of the Assembly for Discerning the Interests of the State (ADIS, or the Expediency Council) after the powerful body passed a decision to double the budget of the Council of the Guardians (CG).
Hojjatoleslam Mehdi Karrobi
, the "chameleon" Speaker of the reformists-dominated Majles and Mr. Majid Ansari, another cleric who is the Chairman of the Majles’ Budget and Planning Committee, also left the session in protest to a decision which Iranian observers described as a "coup" by the conservatives-dominated EC against both the government and Parliament.Analysts said the decision to increase the budget of the conservatives-controlled CG from an initial 4.4 billion Rials, a sum allocated by the government in its general budget of the Iranian year of 1382 which begins on 22 March and approved by the Majles to over 10 billions, (11.5 million Euros) came as a shock to the normally calm and moderate Khatami, as it constitutes a blatant violation of the Constitution of the Islamic Republic and a sad humiliation of the role of the president in the present Iranian theocratic system.
"This is an utterly illegal decision, unconstitutional and against Islamic laws with no precedence in the history of the Islamic Republic", commented Mr. Ahmad Salamatian, a veteran political analyst based in Paris, noting that the Expediency Council has no authority to interfere in matters that are reserved to the Majles alone, including attributing budget.
Ali Shakoori-Rad, an influential reformist member of the Majles said this is the first time that such a thing has happened, referring to the trio’s walkout. "It's very unexpected'', he told the independent Iranian Students News Agency ISNA.
It is the first time Khatami has walked out of a meeting in protest since being first elected in 1997.
He became under strong pressures from the reformers to change his conciliatory policies towards the hard liners, a policy blamed for the reformists staggering setback in the recent city council and village elections.
But other analysts see Khatami and Karroobi’s walkout from the stormy session of the Expediency Council is a clear demonstration of their escape from responsibilities.
"Instead of staying and fighting back, warning Hashemi Rafsanjani against disregard for the Constitution, the heads of the Legislative and the Executive decided to walk out while the other members were voting something which is absolutely illegal and makes a mockery of the Majles and the Iranians as a nation", one veteran dissident told Iran Press Service on condition of anonymity.
The ADIS, whose members are appointed by Ayatollah Ali Khameneh'i, the leader of the Islamic Republic, and chaired by Ayatollah Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, is an advisory board at the service of the leader, which also arbitrates between the Majles and the Guardians when the two institutions fail to reach agreement, as the latter has to approve all the laws passed by the parliament for conformity with Islamic canons.
The Council of the Guardians comprises of six clerics, appointed by the leader and six jurists, proposed by the Judiciary and voted by the parliament. It also vets all Iranian candidates to all elections and has the right to reject any candidate without providing public explanation
Expediency Council secretary Mohsen Reza’i said a 60 billion rials (7.5 million US Dollars) budget increase for the CG was meant to enable it to supervise upcoming parliamentary elections early next year, the official news agency IRNA reported.
He also said that since Hojjatoleslam Khatami makes his ritual five-time s a day prier "before the time", so he did not think that the President left the meeting on protest, but just to attend other duties after the prier.
But informed sources said they were not surprised at the EC’s blow to Khatami, as it falls into the old scenario, attributed to Mr. Hashemi Rafsanjani and approved by Mr. Khameneh'i, which calls for the proclamation of a state of emergency, a situation that allows to shut the parliament and sent the government to a long period of vacation. ENDS KHATAMI PROTEST 15303