Member of Parliament Reports on 'Strange Lobbying' by Municipality to Reject Investigation Proposal

Fatemeh Saidi, a representative from Tehran in the Iranian Parliament, reported without details on 'heavy pressure' and 'strange lobbying' by the Tehran Municipality with representatives to prevent the investigation proposal from this institution, accusing some representatives of having a 'non-political view' towards corruption. She also apologized to the citizens who voted for her, adding that 'our efforts against the overt and covert tools of some power holders were not sufficient.' According to the Iranian Students News Agency (ISNA), Fatemeh Saidi identified four main factors for the Iranian Parliament's negative vote on the investigation proposal regarding the Tehran Municipality in a letter. She mentioned 'heavy pressure' from supporters and associates of the Tehran mayor in recent weeks and 'strange lobbying with representatives' as the first reason. On Tuesday, March 14, the Parliament's open session voted against the investigation proposal with 132 votes in favor, 90 against, and five abstentions out of 233 present representatives. Mahmoud Sadeghi, a representative from Tehran, and Rahmatollah Hafezi, a city council member, also accused the municipality of 'lobbying' and giving '10 billion tomans in density' to the brother of one of the members of the Parliament's Civil Commission. In the second part of her letter, Saidi stated that the last Tuesday of the year was an 'inappropriate time' to review this proposal. From her perspective, the absence of dozens of representatives during the review was the third reason for rejecting the investigation into the Tehran Municipality. She emphasized that 'if even half of the absentees had attended the session today, a different outcome would have occurred.' In the fourth part of her letter, Saidi criticized 'some representatives' lack of adherence to a non-political view of corruption. About 50 representatives were absent during the review of the investigation proposal regarding the Tehran Municipality. Some representatives also accused Ali Larijani of siding with the Tehran mayor, and Mostafa Kaveh Kbian, a representative from Tehran, stated that Mr. Larijani did not allow him to speak in favor of this proposal. Meanwhile, social media shared photos of Ali Larijani alongside Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf, the Tehran mayor, on Tree Planting Day. In previous years, Iranian media reported on meetings between Ali Larijani and Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf regarding political issues. The investigation into the Tehran Municipality arose after the issue of transferring properties belonging to this institution at significant discounts to specific individuals, including some members of the Tehran City Council. 'How properties located in projects are acquired,' 'changes in land use,' and 'municipal income from property sales and density' were among the other focuses of this proposal. However, Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf, the Tehran mayor, described this proposal as 'political' on Wednesday and thanked the Parliament members for their negative vote on it. He added, 'I thank the members of the Islamic Consultative Assembly who wisely and correctly did not allow the spirit of work and effort to be affected by politicization and political games.' Some conservative media also labeled the investigation proposal against the Tehran Municipality as a 'political' proposal and expressed satisfaction with the Parliament's negative vote on it.