Tehran, Dec 19, IRNA -- President Mohammad Khatami here Thursday
brushed off the 'ballyhoo' made by the opponents of a bill to bolster
his power, saying he was hopeful about the oversight Guardians
Council's cooperation in passing it.
The bill, which has already received an overwhelming approval of
the parliament, awaits further screening before becoming a law amid
opponent claims that it was contrary to the Constitution and risked
opening the way to dictatorship.
"God willing, the bill on reforming the the president's
prerogatives and authorities will receive final approval and this will
help the president in fulfilling his duties," he said at the
inauguration of a conference on 'non-implemented principles of the
Constitution'.
Architects of the bill say it redefines the president's
constitutional power to warn any of the highest ranking officials of
the three constitutional powers whenever needed and mete out
punishment in case the warning is not heeded.
They say the bill seeks to guarantee that the president's warnings
on various state affairs are heeded and taken into effect.
Its opponents say the bill had led to an overlapping of
supervisory and executive powers in the sense that it leaves the door
open for the president to interfere in supervisory issues while he is
only entrusted with execution of the law.
An advisor to the Guardians Council, Gholam-Hossein Elham, has
already predicted that the bill would fail in the council's screening.
Khatami discusses Venezuelan situation, oil with President Chavez
Tehran, Dec 19, IRNA -- Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez in a
telephone conversation late Wednesday briefed his Iranian counterpart
Mohammad Khatami on the the ongoing situation in the South American
country which has seen its vital oil industry crippled by over two
weeks of opposition strikes.
The two presidents, whose countries are major OPEC members with
Iran the second largest oil producer and Venezuela ranking fifth in
the organization, also discussed issues relating to crude oil and
stressed on their economic and political cooperation.
Khatami hoped that Chavez would succeed in 'putting behind
existing problems with wisdom and patience with the help of the
Venezuelan people, especially the country's youth'.
The Venezuelan president expressed his best wishes for Khatami and
hailed the Islamic Republic's steps in the Organization of the
Petroleum Exporting Countries.
Oil prices have surged over recent days amid opposition strikes in
Venezuela which have disrupted oil shipments.
The strike, aimed at forcing Chavez to step down entered its 18th
day on Thursday.
Chavez, a charismatic leader, who was was elected by a landslide
in 1998 and reelected to a six-year term two years later, has said
that his opponents were seeking to topple him again similar to what
they did during his brief ouster in April.
