Ahmadinejad will appear before Majlis today, 11 MPs opt out

TEHRAN, March 13 (MNA) – Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad will appear before the parliament on Wednesday to answer MPs’ questions about irregularities by the administration, Majlis Presiding Board spokesman Mohsen Kouhkan told on Tuesday. Kouhkan’s remarks came shortly after MP Mohammad Hossein Farhangi, who is a member of the Majlis Presiding Board, said that 11 MPs who had signed the motion to summon the president to the Majlis withdrew their signatures. Farhangi also said, “The number of the signers has been decreased to 68 at the present time, which is less than the threshold,” suggesting that Ahmadinejad’s Majlis appearance may be postponed. The decision to summon the president to the Majlis was made on February 7 after MPs were not convinced by the answers provided by the president’s representatives at a meeting held to discuss the reasons behind irregularities by the administration. The motion calls for the president to answer questions about the administration’s failure to fully disburse the funds allocated for the Tehran Metro, the failure to meet economic growth target of 8 percent set for the Iranian calendar year of 1389 (ended on March 20, 2011), poor implementation of the subsidy reform plan, the president’s alleged resistance to accept the Supreme Leader’s decree to reinstate the intelligence minister, president’s remarks about the status of the Majlis, the failure to implement the law to establish the Sports and Youth Ministry and nominate the minister at the appointed time, the dismissal of the former foreign minister while on a diplomatic mission in Senegal, the administration’s poor performance in regard to cultural plans, and the president’s support for the promotion of the Iranian school of thought instead of the Islamic school of thought and his support for the deviant current.