Iran Council Paves Way for Khatami Swearing-In

09/04/2001| IslamWeb

TEHRAN (Reuters) - A top Iranian state body intervened on Monday to allow reformist President Mohammad Khatami to be sworn in for a second term, ending a bitter row which had brought the country to a political impasse.
The Expediency Council, which has the final say in Iranian political disputes, voted to enable Khatami to take the oath of office with the presence of only two-thirds of the members of the legislative watchdog Guardian Council, the official news agency IRNA said.
Khatami had been due to be sworn in on Sunday, two months after his landslide re-election. But the ceremony was held up by the row between the conservative Islamic judiciary and the reformist-majority parliament over the election of two new legal experts to the Guardian Council.
Iran's conservative supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, postponed the ceremony on Saturday and asked the Expediency Council to find a solution.(Read photo caption below).
Khamenei endorsed the Expediency Council's decisions, demanding that the president be sworn in ``in the quickest time possible.''
Parliament has rejected all the candidates proposed by the judiciary chief for the Guardian Council posts as politically biased and legally inexperienced, and demanded that more liberal candidates be put forward.
But the judiciary chief, Ayatollah Mahmoud Hashemi Shahroudi, refused to budge, provoking a war of words with reformist members of parliament.
BENDING RULES
In a setback to reformers, the Expediency Council bent the rules to allow the election of a candidate with a relative, rather than absolute, majority. This could weaken parliament's bargaining position against the conservatives.
The Guardian Council has vetoed the more progressive rulings of the current reformist parliament. Members of parliament had seen the elections as an opportunity to regain influence.
Conservatives, bitterly opposed to Khatami's liberal reforms, had insisted that all 12 members of the Guardian Council -- six clerics and six legal experts -- be present at his swearing-in ceremony.
Reformers saw this as a pressure tactic to rush parliament into electing new members from the current list of candidates.
The political infighting heated up on Monday with the judiciary chief charging that his nominees for the Guardian Council had been subjected to ``inquisition'' during closed-door confirmation hearings.
``Some of the questions asked resemble inquisition. The candidates were insulted and wanted to go to the media to speak to people. But I changed their minds,'' state television quoted him as saying.
``I am sorry to see that none of the candidates were confirmed, although they all are top scholars with administrative experience,'' the judge added.
Reformers disagreed.
``This is a very sensitive matter. We want to make sure those reviewing our legislation are totally acceptable,'' reformist deputy Mohammad Ali Kuzehgar told the student news agency ISNA.
Many reformers were against the intervention of the Expediency Council in the affair, as the council has often sided with the conservatives.
``This is not an issue to be decided by the Expediency Council. Complicating such a simple matter will cause problems,'' said Nasser Qavami, head of parliament's judiciary committee.
PHOTO CAPTION:
Iran's Parliament speaker Mahdi Karrubi delivers a speech during a session of parliament in Tehran Sunday Aug. 5, 2001. Citing constitutional concerns, Iran's supreme leader on Saturday indefinitely postponed the swearing-in ceremony of reformist President Mohammad Khatami a day before it was due to take place. Khatami's term began Thursday, when supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei confirmed him for a second four-year term. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
- Aug 05 7:51 AM ET