Iranian MP Tavakkoli says summoning president may exacerbate economic, political tensions

TEHRAN,Oct.14(MNA) – Iranian MP Ahmad Tavakkoli said that he is opposed to summoning President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to the Majlis to answer MPs’ questions about disarray in Iran’s foreign exchange market and a number of other issues. Tavakkoli made the remarks during an interview with the Persian service of the Mehr News Agency published on Saturday in reference to the motion signed by 102 MPs, which was submitted to the Majlis Presiding Board on October 10. He stated that he is opposed to the decision because of two reasons, noting, “The president has showed that he does not display behavior commensurate with national interests when being asked questions. And because part of the MPs’ questions is related to fluctuations in the foreign exchange market, the president’s remarks may fan the flames of the current lack of (public) confidence and exacerbate the situation.” “The president has no consideration for norms and helps increase political tensions in the society with his remarks. As the foreign exchange market is sensitive to political tensions, this may inflict more economic harm on the people.” The motion to summon the president is scheduled to be discussed by a relevant Majlis committee and representatives of the president will have to provide the necessary explanations at a meeting of the committee. If answers do not satisfy the MPs, the motion calling for the president to be questioned will again be submitted to the Majlis Presiding Board so that it could be discussed at an open session of the Majlis. The president must then appear before the parliament within a month to answer the questions. The Iranian market is experiencing a letdown due to the fact that Iran’s rial has recently fallen against the U.S. dollar in open-market trade. The government has taken some stopgap measures, such as establishing a foreign exchange center to provide importers of goods with dollars at a reduced rate, to stop the decline in the value of the Iranian currency and managed to bring relative calm to the country’s rattled foreign exchange market. On March 14, Ahmadinejad appeared before the parliament and answered MPs’ questions about a number of the administration’s irregularities. It was the first time in the history of Iran’s Islamic Revolution of 1979 that a president had been summoned to the Majlis.