Iranian MPs criticize Ahmadinejad’s remarks on subsidy targeting

TEHRAN,Dec.24(MNA) – Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s recent statements about subsidy targeting were harshly criticized by several MPs on Sunday. During a televised interview broadcast live on Iranian television on Saturday night, Ahmadinejad indirectly criticized the Majlis for obliging the administration to implement the subsidy reform plan over the course of five years, arguing that the elimination of subsidies could be done in a single stage. He also said the economy should only be managed by a single body, by which he meant that only the president and cabinet should make decisions on economic affairs. Ahmadinejad even claimed that if the subsidies were eliminated in a single stroke, direct cash payments to the people -– as a replacement for subsidies -- could be increased fivefold. MP Hamidreza Fouladgar said the president denies that the subsidy cuts caused inflation and constantly insists that the inflation is a result of the sanctions imposed on the country and the fluctuations in the exchange rate of the rial in the foreign currency market. Fouladgar also rejected the president’s assertion that some of the revenues gained from subsidy cuts were channeled into the production sector. “I accept no such statement at all. There was no assistance to the production sector,” Fouladgar told the Mehr News Agency on Sunday. He also said it was not possible to implement the subsidy reform plan in a single stage. Even when the Ahmadinejad administration submitted the bill to implement the subsidy reform plan, they did not say they wanted to do it in a single step, he added. MP Iraj Nadimi said the president’s talk of increasing cash subsidies only creates a temporary delight among the people, adding that the people will not accept more inflation, which would be caused by starting the next stage of the subsidy targeting now. Nadimi, who is a member of the Majlis Economic Committee, said the parliament will not back down on its decision that subsidy cuts should be implemented gradually over the course of several years. Claims on fivefold increase in cash payments inflames public sentiments MP Gholamreza Mesbahi Moqaddam said talk about increasing the cash payments fivefold is turning the people against the Majlis, and instead of talking to parliament, the president has talked to the people and has created the view in the minds of the people that “The Majlis is standing against you.” Talking to reporters in the Majlis, Mesbahi Moqaddam, who is the chairman of the Majlis Budget and Planning Committee, said, “The Supreme Leader said no one has the right to provoke the people’s sentiments before the election, and this statement by the president is nothing more than a provocation of sentiments.” Mesbahi Moqaddam also stated that in his TV interview, the president said that the economy should be handled by a single body, while according to the Constitution, decisions about the economy are to be made by three centers of power, namely the Leader, the executive branch of government and the legislative branch of government. Decisions about macroeconomic policies fall within the jurisdiction of the Supreme Leader, and decisions in this regard are announced after the Expediency Council examines the matter, he noted. The Majlis is also tasked with approving legislation about the economy, and the president cannot say that the Majlis should not be involved in economic matters, he stated.