Majlis drops plan to inquire into IRIB performance

Following expression of views both in favor and against the inquiry, Majlis Speaker Mehdi Karroubi decided to exclude the debate from the Sunday's agenda of the Majlis, citing that it will contradict the internal regulations of the assembly.

Majlis speaker's decision created a several-minute brawl in the assembly and a great number of Majlis deputies left the open session of the parliament.

Several Majlis deputies also expressed their opposition to the move by the speaker of the Islamic Consultative Assembly.

Member of parliament from Mahallat and Delijan, Ali Asghar Hadizadeh, had requested an inquiry into IRIB's foreign purchases which, the MP had said, were made `without registration with the Commerce Ministry'.

Hadizadeh had called for the inquiry four months ago. He raised the matter once again in the parliament's formal session last week.

The parliament speaker said that the request had not been studied so far because of the recess of about two weeks in parliament session ahead of the eighth presidential elections on June 8.

Meanwhile, the IRIB Deputy Chairman for Parliament Affairs, Ezzatollah Zarghami, had said that any inquiry into the IRIB's performance is contingent upon guidelines from the Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Asked about the procedure for monitoring IRIB's current expenditure, he said that the State Inspectorate and the Management and Planning Organization (MPO), the Parliamentary Commission of Article 90 and the Office of the Supreme Leader are monitoring IRIB's financial status.

On the other hand, a member of Parliament's Culture Commission Davoud Soleymani had said here Saturday that any inquiry into the activities of the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting is the lawful duty of the parliament. He also refuted statements made earlier Saturday by IRIB's Deputy Chairman for Parliamentary Affairs Ezzatollah Zarghami.

Zarghami had told reporters that inquiry the affairs of IRIB is against the law and against Article 198 of parliamentary bylaws.

He said that IRIB is among the organs under the supervision of the Supreme Leader's Office and `hence any inquiries into its affairs should have his permission'.

Soleymani said that Majlis representatives had earlier brought the issue to the attention of the Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei and the Leader had replied that except the armed forces all other organizations are subject to parliamentary supervision.

He said the IRIB's budget is passed by the parliament, adding, ``This responsibility is not one-sided and any organization which gets its budget after approval of the parliament is bound to answer to the people's representatives, unless it wants to place itself above the law which is entirely a different matter.''

It is the parliaments's inherent right that when it provides an organization with a budget it demands accountability. The parliament should be ready to answer people's question in this regard, the MP said.

He said the Supreme Leader is also not satisfied that an organization or a ministry which get funds approved by the parliament, not be accountable to it.

Soleymani said the presence of two MPs on the IRIB supervisory board is a reason for its accountability.

On the question of what the parliament would do if the IRIB does not heed its request and to furnish the necessary documents, he added that 'in that case, through parliament's Article 90 Commission, the speaker of the parliament and other appropriate venues, we will demand that the IRIB obey the law.''

MP says he is ready to debate with GC regarding IRIB

Ansari announced in Sunday session of Majlis on Sunday that the GC had last week claimed that the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB) is directly operating under the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Ali Khamenei's supervision.

Ansari told reporters that the GC's claim was against the Constitution. Such a rendition is against the general interests of the system because it pits the leadership against popular institutions.

Majlis deputies object to Speaker's handling of IRIB issue

Article 25 of Majlis' internal by-law provides that MPs can object to the Speaker by signing a petition carrying at least 25 signatures.

Haqiqatjou added that a committee of heads of Majlis commissions would look into the complaint.

Some 35 MPs have so far signed the petition and the number of signatories is expected to increase.

Majlis on Sunday dropped a scheduled plan to debate an inquiry into the performance of the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting. Majlis Speaker Mehdi Karroubi bore the ire of many deputies by putting in limbo the debate, arguing that it contradicts internal regulations of the assembly.

MP comments on Majlis plan to inquire into IRIB performance

In an interview conducted with the English-language daily `Iran News' published on Sunday, Ali-Asghar Hadi-Zadeh, Majlis deputy from Delijan (Central Province) criticized the IRIB as being "irresponsive, inconsistent and unreliable when it comes to their annual income derived from advertising."

He pointed out that the IRIB does not "reply to our legal and constitutional demands".

However, when it did so, discrepant figures widely ranging from "80 billion rials to 160 trillion rials," as the amount of their fiscal year advertising generated revenues, were noted, he added.

"However, according to the Majlis Cultural Commission's investigation, the IRIB earns at least 500 billion rials from commercials."

These discrepancies "compelled the Majlis to object to IRIB's annual budget last year," he pointed out adding that the "finding of the commission (Cultural Commission) was however rejected by the Guardian Council and the IRIB's original budget was approved by the Expediency Council."

Since the IRIB chief is not a minister and cannot be questioned or impeached, the only option, the MP stressed, is to "get an answer, to what is transpiring at the IRIB and their financial status, via the route that the Majlis is currently taking, ie., officially investigating the IRIB's books."

Commenting on the same issue, the paper in a subsequent analysis labeled the IRIB as a "red-line" for the conservatives.

And it believed that they will probably not stand for it being scrutinized, as evidenced in 1999, when the Majlis (then controlled by the right wing) changed its internal regulations and forbid itself from investigating institutions under the immediate control of the Leader.

Nonetheless, MP Hadi-Zadeh says, "the relevant Majlis by-laws states that those institutions are under the direct purview of the Leader, but the IRIB is not included in that category since it is supervised by a council appointed by all three branches of government.

"The IRIB is widely believed to support the cause of the conservatives and the right faction of the Iranian political system," it noted adding that prior to the ratification of this by-law, investigating such institutions was undertaken by first obtaining the permission and a go-ahead from the Supreme Leader.

The IRIB has always been a crucial tool and lever of power, it said adding that the conservatives had themselves taken charge of the organization in 1993, after conducting a lengthy investigation into the books and inner-workings of the IRIB.

Another interesting point to note here is that, before its current chief, Ali Larijani, Mohammad Hashemi, brother for former President Hashemi Rafsanjani was the IRIB chief, and he was extensively criticized for his allegedly biased reporting of president Rafsanjani's first term in office (1989-1993).

The excuse used by the conservatives to investigate the IRIB was supporting the other hopefuls in the presidential race and producing fair coverage by the IRIB before the Sixth Presidential Elections, in which Rafsanjani was ultimately reelected, wrote the paper, noting that the Fourth Majlis's, (dominated by conservatives) probe however led to the ousting of Mohammad Hashemi.

No doubt, it said, the intentions and motivations of the reform minded Sixth Majlis are not limited to just looking into IRIB's accounts and books, political objectives and considerations are definitely in play.

The IRIB has inflicted a great deal of damage to the reformists during the past few years with their broadcasts, such as the controversial Berlin Conference, which led to the arrest and imprisonment of a number of prominent reformist personalities and mass closure of the reform minded newspapers.

The last straw for the reformers was the just held presidential elections during which the IRIB refused to announce the election's final result and the decisive reelection of President Khatami, hit out the paper.

Basically, the IRIB pretended that nothing special had happened in Iran and totally ignored this monumental news story and paid scant attention and coverage to the presidential election, slammed the paper.

There is going to be a hell of a fight between the conservatives and the reformist over control of the IRIB, before all is said and done, it believed pointing out that a number of things and factors may heat up this investigation.

For example, it said, the IRIB may refuse to cooperate with the Majlis, or the IRIB chief may not resign even if the Majlis's final report is damning.

But one thing is certain, and that is an "uproar, commotion, controversy, acrimonious bickering and arguments between the two political factions in Iran," is inevitable and unavoidable during the coming weeks and months, it warned adding that the situation may take a really ugly turn.

MPs divided over inquiry into IRIB affairs

Karroubi said that the parliament is not authorized to probe into the IRIB because, according to previous regulations, the IRIB is under supervision of the office of the Supreme leader.

MP from Qa'enat Mousa Ghorbani said that according to Article 198 of the procedure for parliamentary sessions, inquiry into the IRIB needs guidelines from the Supreme Leader.

MP from Qazvin Nasser Qavami said that the IRIB is among the institutions using public fund and the parliament reserves the right to inquire into the organization's affairs.

MP from Ahar Qassem Me'mari referred to a statement from Supreme Leader saying that "Majlis has the right to probe into every state affair".

MP from Mahallat and Delijan Ali Asghar Hadizadeh who had earlier instigated the motion said, "I bear no personal grudge toward IRIB, but, as an ordinary citizen I noticed some bias in some IRIB programs."

Member of the parliament's Presiding Board Ahmad Bourqani said that the Guardians Council is entitled to interpret the law, but, in case of the IRIB, the Guardians Council has formulated a law -- a responsibility which lies with the parliament.

Bourqani said that appointment of the IRIB chief is constitutionally up to the Supreme leader, in the meantime, the three branches of government (legislature, executive, judiciary) are entitled to supervise IRIB affairs so that the parliament's inquiry cannot be limited to the organization's administrative affairs.

MP from Mahneshan Abdollahi said that he supports inquiry into all state institutions, but, since the Guardians Council said last year the IRIB is under direct supervision of the Supreme Leader, any debate in parliament is unlawful.

MP from Tehran Hojjatoleslam Majid Ansari said that there no specific law bringing the IRIB under direct supervision of the Supreme Leader. The parliament is the only legislative body and is entitled to say which institutes are run by the Supreme leader.

MP from Tehran Ahmad Pournejati said that there is no doubt about the procedural framework of the parliament sessions. He proposed seeking the Leader's advice on the matter.

Parliament Speaker Hojjatoleslam Mehdi Karroubi took a hard line in dealing with the matter and said, "We are making law and first of all we should respect those adopted by ourselves. He said that he pays attention to the procedural law away from political implications and that the procedural framework bans any inquiry into the organs administered by the Supreme Leader's Office."

"I believe that the procedural law should be amended, but, today the yardstick is the current law."

MP from Takestan Rajab Rahmani said that the Expediency Council has ratified the parliament's procedural law so that the parliament cannot ignore the law. He called for removal of the motion from the agenda of the session.

MP from Tehran Elahe Koulaei said that inquiry into the affairs of state organizations helps ensure their healthy performance and the reasons for concerns about inquiry into IRIB affairs.

Karroubi intervened and urged the MPs to stop further debates on the IRIB.

Ansari objected to Karroubi's decision and the Majlis speaker said that the matter concerns the Guardians Council so that further discussion in this respect is unlawful, according to Majlis procedural rules.