The Battle of Credentials

Salman Khodadadi, the elected representative of Malekan in the tenth parliament, may have the chance that the controversy over Nader Qazipour's credentials has caused the objections to his credentials in the eighth parliament to be forgotten. The review of Salman Khodadadi's credentials was one of the controversial sessions of the eighth parliament, but due to the session being held behind closed doors, the events that occurred were not published in the media, and only the verbal altercation between Massoud Pezeshkian, the representative defending Khodadadi, and Mohammad Ebrahim Nokonam and Rouhollah Hosseinian, his opposing representatives who had dragged the closed session into an open one, was reflected in the media. Khodadadi was accused of 'forcibly raping' one of his secretaries in one of his offices outside of parliament during his term in the seventh parliament and of 'embracing' one of the visitors in the public meeting office of the parliament. He was arrested due to these accusations in the last months of the seventh parliament and was released after a few days. According to several conservative representatives, this young girl had approached Salman Khodadadi's office due to her father's poverty and illness, and he had gotten close to this girl under the pretext of comforting her and had 'embraced' her. The girl had exited Khodadadi's office in tears and had encountered Fatemeh Rahbar, a representative from Tehran, during this time. Fatemeh Rahbar testified against Salman Khodadadi in the closed session, and the investigative committee's report was in favor of the plaintiffs. Nevertheless, the elected representative of Malekan and his supporters announced that he had ultimately been acquitted in both cases. Khodadadi's credentials were eventually approved while he was drinking water non-stop due to stress. He did not run in the ninth parliament elections and has now returned to the parliament after four years. Khodadadi and Qazipour's chances: One of Salman Khodadadi's advantages was the support of the majority of the Turkish-speaking representatives in parliament. Turkish-speaking representatives usually act cohesively and organizationally in parliament. This coordination and cohesion, as it led to the approval of Salman Khodadadi's credentials, could also increase Nader Qazipour's chances, the elected representative of Urmia, for the approval of his credentials in case of an objection to them. The group pressure regarding credentials is another chance for Nader Qazipour. Although using this tactic may provoke more representatives against him. Some representatives in conservative parliaments have tried this method and succeeded. For instance, Reza Abdollahi, the elected representative of Mahneshan in the eighth parliament, objected to the credentials of 19 representatives from Tehran, including Gholamali Haddad Adel, in retaliation for Fatemeh Aliya's objection to his credentials. An action that Mehdi Koochakzadeh, another elected representative from Tehran, called 'political puffery' in the open parliament session. Ultimately, conservative representatives preferred to end this matter by approving Reza Abdollahi's credentials. In the ninth parliament, the group pressure regarding credentials continued, and Gholamreza Katib, the elected representative of Garmsar, in retaliation for Fatemeh Aliya's objection to his credentials, 'put his hand' on the credentials of 30 elected representatives from Tehran, as commonly said in parliament. Simultaneously with the objection to Katib's credentials, a letter signed by the personnel deputy of the Cultural and Communications Organization was published on websites, claiming that Katib had 'sexually harassed' a female elevator operator in a marine museum in the Philippines during a state visit. Katib announced that Parvin Ahmadinejad, his rival, had also sent this letter to the Guardian Council, but after investigations, the council deemed the claims in the letter to be false and confirmed his qualifications. In the end, this time too, the group pressure regarding credentials led to the approval of Katib's credentials. The motivation for objections to credentials in conservative parliaments from the seventh to the ninth was mostly personal, and ultimately, the credentials of all representatives in these parliaments were approved. However, prior to that, political reasons had led to the rejection of the credentials of some representatives. From 'manipulating' the report card of a child to the annulment of elections: In the sixth parliament, after the Guardian Council annulled several ballot boxes in some electoral districts to prevent the entry of some figures close to national-religious forces or reformists into parliament, reformist representatives in the sixth parliament objected to the credentials of the representatives replaced after the annulment of the ballot boxes. The credentials of Hassan Moradi from the Arak electoral district, who had replaced Rahman Kargosha after the annulment of the ballot boxes, and the credentials of Matin Kazemi from the Khalkhal electoral district, who had replaced Mr. Khaknezhad, did not receive the approval of the parliament representatives. However, the representatives of the sixth parliament ultimately voted in favor of the credentials of Gholamali Haddad Adel, who had replaced Alireza Rajai after the annulment of the ballot boxes, with the mediation of several prominent reformist figures. In this parliamentary period, the credentials of Baratal Mohammadifar, the elected representative of Sanandaj and Kordestan, were rejected due to issues such as 'violations' from 'manipulating' his child's report card to 'numerous violations leading to dismissal from service in education'. The rejection of the credentials of Hashemi's rival and the candidate of the PourMohammadi family: In the fifth conservative parliament, the credentials of Hamid Bahrami Ahmadinejad, who defeated Hossein Hashemi in Rafsanjan, were rejected. Hamid Bahrami was supported by the PourMohammadi family, which had a long-standing rivalry with the Hashemi family in Rafsanjan. The session to review Mr. Bahrami's credentials was held behind closed doors, and he did not defend himself in the open session. 'Membership in the Mojahedin-e Khalq Organization' and 'connections with the instigators of the Nojeh coup' were among the accusations raised against Bahrami. Despite the rejection of the credentials of this Rafsanjan representative, he was confirmed in the seventh parliament elections and re-elected. In the fourth parliament, the credentials of Habib Hashemi, the elected representative of Fasa, were rejected due to accusations of 'supporting deviant groups' and 'favoring some leaders of communist countries', and in the third parliament, the credentials of Mohammad Taqi Saberi Ansari, the elected representative of Borujerd, were rejected due to accusations such as 'membership in the Lion and Sun Society', 'lack of commitment to Islamic principles', and 'drug addiction'. Although, according to Saberi's supporters, the governor of Borujerd had stated that he had been tested for addiction 'accidentally' and 'under custody', and this test had been negative. The rejection of the credentials of a presidential candidate and the Ilkhan of the Qashqai tribe: In the second parliament, the credentials of Javid Ramadanpour, the elected representative of Bandar Lengeh, were rejected due to accusations such as 'supporting the representative of Banisadr' and 'one of his brothers being executed and another imprisoned in connection with the Tudeh Party', and the credentials of Biouk Agha Sharif, the elected representative of Marand, were also rejected due to accusations such as 'supporting executive officials and law enforcement' and his performance during his management of the East Azerbaijan Broadcasting and having a 'legitimate relationship with one of his employees' in the Ministry of Labor. However, the first parliament had the highest rate of rejected credentials. The credentials of representatives in this parliament were rejected mainly due to reasons such as proximity to the Shah's regime or connections with groups opposing the Islamic Republic. The credentials of Jafar Tavakoli, the elected representative of Golpayegan, were rejected due to 'electoral deficiencies'. Ahmad Madani, the elected representative of Kerman, was the most prominent figure whose credentials were rejected. Majid Ansari stated in the parliament session that he had not been willing to respond to the accusations of opposing representatives and had said, 'I will address these issues to the three million people who voted for me in due time.' These remarks could refer to Madani's second place in the presidential elections after Banisadr. The accusations of opponents were of the usual type at that time, including 'employing SAVAK agents' and requesting the Revolutionary Court to release them. The issue of voting on the credentials of Khosrow Soulat Qashqai, the elected representative of Eqlid, was also a topic in parliament for a while. Ultimately, the representatives rejected his credentials due to accusations such as 'receiving a salary from SAVAK' and 'connections with American officials and the CIA'. The credentials of Rahman Dadman, who later became the Minister of Roads in Mohammad Khatami's government and died in a plane crash, were also rejected due to the publication of a photo of him with Mousa Khiyabani, a prominent member of the Mojahedin-e Khalq Organization. Meanwhile, the reasons for the rejection of the credentials of Khosrow Rigi, the elected representative of Zahedan, included 'connections with SAVAK and influencing the supervisory board in elections', and the reasons for the rejection of the credentials of Rampoor Sadrabadi, the elected representative of Kashmar, included 'membership in the Rastakhiz Party' and 'taking a photo in the presence of the Shah'. Besides these, the credentials of Asadollah Javanmardi, the elected representative of Miyaneh, were rejected due to accusations such as 'taking a photo with the Shah', 'connections with SAVAK', and 'founding the People's Republic Muslim Party in Azerbaijan', and the credentials of Mohammad Jasim Saadati, the elected representative of Mahabad, were rejected due to 'connections with the Democratic Party'. The credentials of Ali Mahimi, the elected representative of Kahnouj, were also rejected due to accusations such as 'partnership of an agricultural company with Shahpour Mohammad Reza Pahlavi'. Alongside these, the reasons for the rejection of the credentials of Hassan Behrouziyeh, the representative of Kalibar, included accusations such as 'seizing property without legal permission in multiple cases and issuing orders for the killing of three people' without a judicial order, and the reasons for the rejection of the credentials of Abolqasem Hosseinjani, the elected representative of Bandar Anzali, included accusations such as 'misuse' of his position as governor in elections and election-related conflicts that led to the deaths of several people. One of the controversial sessions of this parliament was the review of the credentials of Hassan Ayat, against whom accusations such as membership in the Workers' Party led by Mozaffar Baqai and 'kissing one of the girls of Parvin Etesami School during teaching' were raised. However, Ayat was among the figures opposing Abolhassan Banisadr, the then president, and the majority of the parliament voted in favor of his credentials. After the tenth parliament began its work in Khordad, the issue of credentials will again occupy the parliament for a while. It is unlikely that the majority of the parliament will have the will to object to the credentials of representatives on a large scale and for political reasons. The specific objections to credentials will also depend on the conditions of the representatives whose credentials are being challenged.