Tehran, November 04: Following a row between Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and the parliament over a law to cut food and energy subsidies, the Majlis vice speaker says members of Parliament will decide on the issue next Sunday.
Earlier in October, the Iranian Parliament backed a proposal by the Ahmadinejad government to phase out subsidies on basic goods including gasoline, gas, electricity, wheat and rice.
The government planned to distribute a portion of the recovered revenue among lower income citizens, who form about half the population.
Earlier this week, parliament members sought to change a key part of the government’s plan, calling on the president to channel the money saved by scrapping the subsidies into a special account for public spending, saying all Iranians must receive compensation for higher food and energy prices.
President Ahmadinejad, who made a surprise visit to Majlis on Tuesday to oppose the proposed amendment, said he does not consider the sought changes “executable”.
He eventually handed over a letter to Majlis Speaker Ali Larijani announcing that he would withdraw the bill in its entirety, reported Iran’s Labor News Agency (ILNA).
Reacting to the issue, Vice Speaker Mohammad-Reza Bahonar told Fars news agency later on Tuesday that the request for the withdrawal of the bill would be discussed next Sunday at its latest, if the president continued to insist on its removal.
“In addition to the presiding board, the Principlist faction held a meeting tonight during which they decided to hold further talks [on the issue] with the government,” Bahonar said.
The Majlis vice speaker added that if the government is “firm in its decision” to implement the law “it can do so without hesitation unless the administration has certain doubts on its own.”
—–Agencies