An Official from the Presidential Office Announced the Necessary Points for Amending Iran's Constitution

The head of the Cultural Council of the Iranian Presidency stated that while the Iranian Constitution needs change, this change should not involve converting the presidential system to a parliamentary one. Reza Akrami made these remarks on Monday, October 16, in an interview with Young Journalists Club, responding to a decision by some members of the Islamic Consultative Assembly who announced they would send a letter to Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the leader of Iran, to prepare the grounds for converting the presidential system to a parliamentary one in Iran. He stated that 'changes in the Constitution are necessary, but they should not concern the conversion of the parliamentary system to a presidential one.' The head of the Cultural Council of the Presidency added that considering the designation of the year 2017 as the year of 'resistance economy, production, and employment' by the leader of the Islamic Republic, the Constitution should be revised in terms of the economy. The second necessary change, in his view, is to increase the term of the Islamic Consultative Assembly, the presidency, and the Islamic councils of cities and villages to five years. This cleric also mentioned in the interview that elections belong to the people and stated that 'the people do not consider any change in any election to be correct.' On October 2, Ezzatollah Youssefian Molla, a member of the Islamic Consultative Assembly, announced that representatives might write a letter to the leader of the Islamic Republic for a review of the Constitution and a change in the electoral system from presidential to parliamentary. Mr. Youssefian Molla, defending the necessity of establishing a parliamentary system, added that 'if the Assembly wants to interact with the government, it must make many concessions. Currently, the Assembly sees many issues but does not speak up due to interactions.' Jalil Rahimi Jahangir, a member of the Hope faction of the Assembly, also told the House of the Nation news agency that 'part of the power-sharing tension at the top of the executive branch will be alleviated with this method, and the Assembly will coordinate with the cabinet.' This letter is intended to be sent to the leader of the Islamic Republic because he stated during a trip to Kermanshah in 2011: 'If one day in the future it seems that a parliamentary system is better for selecting officials of the executive branch, there is no problem in changing the current mechanism.' In a parliamentary system, the presidency of the executive branch will be held by a prime minister elected by the Assembly. While some political figures, especially supporters of Ali Khamenei, support the conversion from a presidential to a parliamentary system in Iran, others believe that the lack of strong and independent parties in the country is the main obstacle to serious changes in the relationship between the government and the Assembly, even if the electoral system changes. The possibility of the Assembly being completely dependent on the leader of the Islamic Republic and consequently the dependency and obedience of the prime minister elected by this Assembly is among the warnings of critics in this regard.