By ALI AKBAR DAREINI
The Associated Press
Wednesday, November 24, 2010; 10:50 AM
TEHRAN,
Iran -- Dozens of Iranian lawmakers have signed a petition seeking to make Mahmoud Ahmadinejad the first president to be summoned for questioning since the Islamic Revolution 32 years ago.
However the challenge looks unlikely to succeed because the numbers fall short of the constitutional requirement that at least one-fourth of the 290 parliament members must sign the petition before the president can be questioned.
Still it was a reminder that Ahmadinejad, one of the most polarizing leaders on the international scene, also faces deep dissent within his own country and even within his own conservative political camp. However, his position appears secure as long as he continues to have the support of the country's highest authority, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and the elite Revolutionary Guard forces. With Khamenei's strong support for the president, it is unlikely that enough lawmakers would sign the petition.
Ali Motahari, a hardline lawmaker behind the petition, says Iran's tensions with the outside world and its domestic woes will not stop lawmakers from taking the president to account.
"I don't believe that questioning (the president) will cause tension. Our people should know that putting questions to the president is a right of lawmakers. Perhaps the president's explanations will convince the parliament," a reformist news website, aftabnews.ir news, quoted Motahari as saying Wednesday.
Iranian lawmakers, including conservatives, have complained in the past about being sidelined in key decisions by Ahmadinejad over issues such as foreign policy and strategic economic planning.
Those behind the petition want Ahmadinejad to respond to a long list of accusations. They include making statements that damage parliament, refusing to carry out laws enacted by parliament, withdrawing money from the central bank without proper authorization. They also accuse him of lack of transparency on budget spending.
Ahmadinejad portrayed himself as a champion of the poor when he first swept to power in 2005, promising to bring oil revenues to every family, eradicate poverty, improve living standards and tackle unemployment. Both conservatives and reform-minded politicians have been increasingly challenging him over his failure to meet those promises.
Reformists and even some fellow conservatives say Ahmadinejad has concentrated too much on fiery, anti-U.S. speeches and not enough on the economy - and they have become more aggressive in calling him to account.
The government is still coping with the consequences of a massive bloody confrontation with protesters and is still being challenged by the opposition that claims Ahmadinejad won the June 2009 presidential elections through massive vote fraud
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