Posted on 09/23/2002 4:55:59 PM PDT by knighthawk
TEHRAN, Sept 23 (AFP) - The government of Iran's reformist President Mohammad Khatami is to submit a bill to Majlis Tuesday seeking to expand presidential powers limited by conservative-dominated institutions, IRNA reported Monday.
Vice President for legal and parliamentary affairs Mohammad-Ali Abtahi will introduce the bill, IRNA said.
The bill, details of which have yet to be released, has to be discussed in the relevant Majlis committee before being put to the vote, a procedure that may take several weeks considering parliament's busy agenda, unless it wins priority.
It is about "more precise and concrete application of the constitution", Khatami said Monday.
"I believe if the constitution is applied appropriately many problems in the country including those of students and youth will be solved", he said at a ceremony marking the start of the new academic year.
Khatami announced on August 28 he would submit a bill allowing him to act with "more prerogatives" so that he could "better respond to the aspirations of the people," notably on the stagnant economic front.
"The president of the republic ought to be able to act with more power, and that 100 percent within the framework of the constitution," he told a press conference.
Voters have given Khatami crushing victories in his two presidential bids, first in 1997 and again last year, and also given his supporters a sweeping majority in parliament.
But the reformists' ability to act is curtailed by conservative-controlled institutions, which look to supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
Conservative officials have already warned that the bill is unconstitutional and could be rejected by the Council of Guardians, which screens proposed laws to ensure they are in accordance with the constitution and Islamic principles.
The Guardians are one of the institutions whose powers the bill apparently seeks to reduce.
The Guardians are one of the institutions whose powers the bill apparently seeks to reduce.
Oh yeah, I see this gambit may just squeak by the moolahs on the council unnoticed.
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