Deputy Speaker of Parliament: Oversight of Representatives' Statements is Incompatible with Constitutional Principles

The Deputy Speaker of the Iranian Parliament reacted to the statements of the Secretary and Spokesman of the Guardian Council, stating that oversight of parliamentary representatives' statements during their term would "destroy their freedom and independence" and lead to representatives becoming "sycophantic and obsequious." Ali Motahari said in an interview with ISNA on Tuesday, November 4, that monitoring the "continuation of representatives' qualifications" is not a new issue, and if a representative commits a "serious crime such as murder, drinking alcohol, or financial and moral corruption," the Parliament can invalidate their credentials. He added: "It is clear that if this oversight extends to representatives' statements, their freedom and independence will be lost, and we will have sycophantic and obsequious representatives." According to Mr. Motahari, oversight of representatives' statements is "incompatible" with Articles 84 and 86 of the Constitution, which grant representatives the right to express opinions on all domestic and foreign issues, and no representative can be prosecuted for statements made in Parliament. Abbasali Kadkhodai, the Spokesman of the Guardian Council, stated on November 1 that based on the general policies of elections announced by the Supreme Leader, the Council's oversight of parliamentary representatives will be "continuous" and will continue even after the approval of their credentials. Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, in section 13 of the "General Policies of Elections" issued at the end of October, called for "the establishment of necessary mechanisms for the proper execution of representative duties, adherence to the oath, prevention of financial, economic, and moral abuse, and necessary actions in case of loss or discovery of lack of conditions for parliamentary representation in the elected." Meanwhile, the Deputy Speaker stated that these policies do not specify the authority overseeing representatives during their term, and the supervising body is "not necessarily the Guardian Council." According to Mr. Motahari, a law should be passed in this regard, which may allow the Parliament itself to oversee representatives' behavior, which he believes is preferable. The Iranian Parliament passed a law in 2012 titled "Parliament's Oversight of Representatives' Behavior," which established a "Supervisory Board on Representatives' Behavior" for each parliamentary term. Actions related to the rights of parliamentary representation, such as expressing opinions and declaring positions on domestic and foreign issues, are not subject to this law. However, Ahmad Jannati, the Secretary of the Guardian Council, raised the question on Tuesday of whether any actions have been taken to oversee representatives since the passage of the "Parliament's Oversight of Representatives' Behavior" law. He emphasized that "oversight of representatives should not be ceremonial" and expressed hope that the implementation of the "General Policies of Elections" would lead to "better" oversight of parliamentary representatives. The statements of the Guardian Council members regarding oversight of representatives during their term come at a time when some political figures have said that some representatives speak "cautiously" out of fear of disqualification in the next term and do not fulfill some of their representative duties. The Guardian Council has disqualified many representatives for the next elections, especially in reformist-majority parliaments, after each parliamentary term. The issue of extending the Guardian Council's oversight over parliamentary representatives has also arisen while the Parliament interpreted the current election law on October 25 to mean that "after the final and definitive opinion of the Guardian Council is announced, this Council cannot make any further comments on the qualifications of candidates or elected representatives." This parliamentary resolution must be approved by the Guardian Council to become law. The Guardian Council invalidated the votes of the third elected representative of Isfahan, Minou Khalighi, despite "confirming the validity" of the elections there in the tenth parliamentary elections.