Iran moves to impeach economy minister

Iran’s parliament has decided to impeach the minister of the economy over an alleged financial scandal amid mounting political infighting which has weakened the government of the president, Mahmoud Ahmadi-Nejad.

The presiding board of the parliament announced on Sunday its approval to begin the impeachment process which several parliamentarians have pushed for in recent weeks.

Shamsoddin Hosseini must appear before the parliament next week and answer questions raised in his impeachment letter including “the failure to implement law and [prevent] violation of law . . . vis-a-vis banks” and “no resistance against the interference of executive officials”.

The legislative body, dominated by fundamentalists loyal to Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the country’s highest authority, is pressing for an investigation into Mr Ahmadi-Nejad and his close allies for their suspected involvement in the alleged $2.8bn scandal.

The scandal centres on a businessman, Mah-Afarid Khosravi who allegedly forged letters of credit from Bank Saderat, a partially state-owned bank, and gave the fake documents to seven other banks.

The credit allegedly helped Mr Khosravi fund some 40 companies while he tried to buy a large state-owned steel factory with the support of the president under a national privatisation plan. His office has refused to comment on the case.

The government has denied any link to the alleged fraud, but critics claim some senior members of the cabinet were involved in what is being described as the country’s biggest embezzlement.

The central bank and the ministry of economy have removed four senior bankers in recent weeks in what analysts believe is the government’s efforts to save cabinet members.

Managing directors of Bank Melli, Iran’s largest state-owned bank, and Bank Saderat, the country’s second biggest, and two privately owned banks, Saman and Gardeshgari, were either dismissed or “resigned” in a move to ease the political and public pressure on the government.

Iranian independent analysts say the heightened pressure on Mr Ahmadi-Nejad is preparing the ground for the forthcoming parliamentary election in March which can set the platform for the presidential poll in 2013.

They expect the power struggle to escalate further in the coming months, even though it is unlikely to result in the impeachment of Mr Ahmadi-Nejad. Although the president is serving his last term in office, he is believed to be pushing his supporters to win the majority in the parliament and eventually the next government.

“Ayatollah Khamenei still seems to prefer Mr Ahmadi-Nejad to finish his term, but the president’s opponents are doing their best to contain him and weaken him as much as possible so that he cannot influence the upcoming elections,” said a former reform-minded official.

The power struggle, which started earlier this year after the president defied a ruling by the top leader not to sack Heydar Moslehi, the minister of intelligence, is a rare open display of division in Iran.

Supporters of Ayatollah Khamenei, who dominate the parliament, judiciary and military forces, believe he is the ultimate political and religious authority whose words should be taken unconditionally.

But Mr Ahmadi-Nejad, like his predecessors, has complained that limiting his power as president is at odds with the constitution.

Iran’s supreme leader seems unwilling to cede part of his power to elected presidents, but he suggested last week that the head of cabinet could be elected through parliament rather than through a presidential election.

“There is no problem in changing the current mechanism if one day, probably in the distant future, it is felt that a parliamentary system is better to elect the executive branch officials,” he said.

Source: FT.com