The Parliament in the Islamic Republic: An Active Agent or a Passive Recipient?

Following the protests of December 2017, which were partly directed at the proposed budget for 2018—specifically the exclusive and unmonitored budgets for religious institutions, the removal of over 30 million subsidy recipients, a 50% increase in fuel prices, and an increase in military budgets (due to interventions in Syria, Iraq, Yemen, and Lebanon)—the Parliament decided to conduct budget discussions in closed sessions. This decision, which pertains only to the security and interests of the 'system' and not to public and national security and interests, also reflects the status and position of the Parliament in the Islamic Republic. Initially, the Parliament rejected the generalities of the proposed budget, but three days later, it approved it without fundamental changes. The text of the budget was also initially rejected and then approved after a few days. In the approved budget, similar to the rejected one, the development budget was reduced, the budget for religious institutions remained largely untouched (with some increases), the military budget increased, and the budget for state radio and television was not reduced. The only change was the reduction of the number of subsidy recipients to 55 million instead of 46 million and the non-increase of 50% in energy carrier prices under the influence of the December 2017 protests and without government opposition. The previous year, during a heated debate between Ali Larijani and Mahmoud Sadqi regarding the withdrawal of $100 million from the National Development Fund for the state radio and television organization, Larijani reprimanded Sadqi for using the term 'passive recipient by necessity' for members of Parliament, citing permission from Khamenei for this withdrawal. Both the term used by Sadqi, which he stated was something he did not understand at the time but later came to realize, and Larijani's response indicate the subordinate status of the Parliament to the leadership and security and military institutions under the leader's supervision. The Parliament annually burdens the country's budget: according to the 2016 national budget law, the approved budget by the Parliament was forecasted at 634 trillion tomans for operational credits and capital asset acquisition. However, the existence or absence of this Parliament does not make much difference. To illustrate the Parliament's lack of agency and ineffectiveness in the country's administration, one can refer to the formation stages and processes of this institution: In the formation stage, the severely weakened role of the Parliament can be shown in five areas: rejection of approvals by the Guardian Council and issuance of government decrees by the Supreme Leader. Lack of oversight over appointed institutions and the Parliament's expert weaknesses. Legislation in other institutions. Interference from external factors such as security and military institutions and the leadership's office. Approval of budgets for institutions under the supervision of clerics and the leadership. Each Parliament in Iran is formed under the supervision of the Guardian Council at various stages. Members of Parliament can even be disqualified after elections. In addition to the supervisory oversight, the way elections are financed (dirty money) and the role of security and military institutions indicate the engineering of elections. The government shapes a Parliament that acts according to the desires of military and security institutions and the leadership's office. During the Parliament's work, the severely weakened role of the Parliament can be shown in five areas: 1. In the rejection of approvals by the Guardian Council and issuance of government decrees by the Supreme Leader. This decree has been issued multiple times at critical legislative moments, demonstrating that the Parliament is ineffective. 2. In the lack of oversight over appointed institutions and the Parliament's expert weaknesses. Hedayatollah Aghaei stated regarding the handling of his case: 'After the events of 2009, I was sentenced to five years in prison, two and a half of which were definitive and two and a half were suspended; however, there was an open charge in my 2009 case regarding insulting the officials of the system that had not been addressed... In July of this year, I was summoned to Branch 15 of the Revolutionary Court presided over by Judge Salavati and was sentenced to two years of imprisonment, which I appealed, and the case went to the appeals court. In February of this year, an appeals session was held, and a few days ago, the sentence was communicated to me. The two-year prison sentence was reduced to six months of obligatory imprisonment, and I am currently waiting for the execution of the sentence... The document they claim I insulted the officials of the system with dates back 25 years, specifically to 1991 when I was a representative in the third Parliament. That year, a group of representatives wrote a letter protesting the disqualifications made by the Guardian Council and requested that it be addressed. I do not know why among the representatives who signed this letter, I was charged with insult and condemned. Secondly, this letter was based on fulfilling our representative duties, and there was nothing insulting about it... The political crime law had been issued before my case was heard and should have been addressed with the presence of a jury. We raised this objection and also raised the issue of the statute of limitations. The appeals court found my crime established but merely reduced the punishment from the legal maximum to the minimum. I hope these remarks will be impactful and prevent such sentences from being issued. It is unacceptable that today a representative can perform their duties and then be penalized 25 years later.' 3. In legislation in other institutions such as the Supreme Cultural Revolution Council, the Supreme National Security Council, the Expediency Discernment Council, and dozens of other councils. For example, in the case of Iran joining the FATF (Financial Action Task Force), it was the National Security Council that reviewed the matter, not the Parliament. In the issue of the JCPOA, the National Security Council was ultimately decisive, not the Parliament. 4. In the interference of external factors such as security and military institutions and the leadership's office, which have a deterrent role in the Parliament's operations. For instance, due to Ali Khamenei's significant sensitivity to cultural issues and his insistence on cultural engineering, members of the tenth Parliament, about a third of whom were from groups known as reformists, showed no interest in joining the cultural commission (initially only four members of the tenth Parliament joined this commission, and ultimately, after the Speaker of Parliament joined, the number of members reached 19, which was four less than the usual quorum), while there was intense competition for membership in the economic, national security, and foreign policy commissions. During the review of Article 38 of the sixth development plan regarding the salary cap for managers, Ali Larijani stated that opponents of this regulation do not dare to raise objections to the Guardian Council for fear of disqualification. 5. In the approval of budgets for institutions under the supervision of clerics and the leadership. Annually, various clauses in the budget exist for the approval of budgets for religious and propaganda institutions, over which there is no oversight on how they are spent. Contrary to the claim that the publication of these budgets triggered the December 2017 uprising, these budgets have been accounted for and approved for years, and the media has announced them without triggering any movement. In the transition of power from one Parliament to another, the lack of a party structure and the absence of experience transfer from one Parliament to another are other factors contributing to the Parliament's ineffectiveness in managing the country's affairs. The change in 61% to 76% of members in various electoral periods may seem like a rotation of elites in the legislative branch to some, but given the supervisory oversight and the interference of military and security institutions in elections, this change has not occurred naturally and is merely a method by the government to prevent a firm foothold of a group of individuals in the Parliament. The taming of reformists ultimately led to the blurring of differences between factions. Mehdi Sheikh, a member of the Hope faction, states: 'There is not much difference between the overwhelming majority of principlists and reformists in the Parliament.' In the legislative process, the lack of a party structure and the absence of experience transfer from one Parliament to another are other factors contributing to the Parliament's ineffectiveness in managing the country's affairs. The change in 61% to 76% of members in various electoral periods may seem like a rotation of elites in the legislative branch to some, but given the supervisory oversight and the interference of military and security institutions in elections, this change is merely a method by the government to prevent a firm foothold of a group of individuals in the Parliament. There are 160 regulatory authorities in the country (the special assistant to the President in citizen rights, IRNA, October 10, 2016) that each create laws in some way, such as the National Security Council, the Expediency Discernment Council, the Guardian Council, the Cultural Revolution Council, and dozens of other committees and councils. These authorities are not coordinated with each other and sometimes violate each other's laws and sometimes eliminate them. Currently, there are 11,000 titles of laws in the country, alongside hundreds of thousands of regulations, circulars, and directives. A significant portion of these laws has been written to Islamize society, and the officials themselves violate them the most. The Parliament of the Islamic Republic pays no heed to the country's problems. For example, annually 15,000 workers in Iran suffer accidents in the workplace, of which 2,000 die. The Parliament does not engage with these issues at all. In current events, Hossein Dehghan, the Minister of Defense in Rouhani's government, in response to a question about the protests of Parliament members and that the presence of Russian planes in Iran should be reviewed in Parliament, said: 'This issue has nothing to do with the Parliament.' The Parliament, which has a powerful faction called 'Tadbir and Omid,' suddenly doubled the budget of the state radio and television organization, which is the mouthpiece of security institutions and the leadership's office (from 1.5 trillion tomans to 3 trillion tomans). Consequently, the Parliament has little input and impact on the administration of the country and its processes and trends. For this reason, members of the Parliament are severely demotivated in their work. In October 2016, after 24 days of vacation, 140 members did not participate in a vote.