The Reason for Rouhani's 'Refusal' to Attend the Expediency Council

According to a member of the Expediency Council, the opposition of some members to Hassan Rouhani's view on the responsibility for drafting the sixth development plan is the reason for the President's 'anger' and his absence from the council's meetings. Mahmoud Mohammadi Araqi, a member of the Expediency Council, stated on Tuesday, December 9, to the Fars news agency, regarding the reason for Hassan Rouhani's absence from the council meetings, that 'this issue was also raised in the recent meeting by Mr. Hashemi [the head of the Expediency Council].' Mohammadi Araqi announced: 'When the discussion of the sixth development plan policies was raised in the council, Mr. Rouhani believed that determining these policies is the government's responsibility and that the council should not intervene in this matter, but most council members wanted the council to engage in these policies, so Mr. Rouhani did not attend the council meetings after that session.' Mr. Mohammadi Araqi also responded to the question of whether Hassan Rouhani is refusing to attend the sessions due to his objection to this council process, saying: 'From Mr. Hashemi's remarks, it seemed that the President got upset when the council members' opinions were like this and did not come to the council.' This member of the Expediency Council also referred to the government's spokesperson's position regarding Rouhani's absence, adding: 'The government representative stated that this absence was only due to work commitments because the council might discuss a single item for several hours; therefore, their reason was that, although this is not the reality.' According to Fars news agency, Hassan Rouhani has repeatedly not attended the Expediency Council meeting held on December 7, chaired by Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani. According to this news agency, Mr. Rouhani, who has objected to the drafting of the sixth development plan by the Expediency Council, emphasized that the government should be responsible for drafting this plan, which faced opposition from Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani and council members, and after this meeting, he did not attend any more council meetings. Previously, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad also refused to attend most of these meetings during his presidency. Mr. Ahmadinejad, after a three-year absence from the first council meeting in Farvardin 88, attended the Expediency Council meeting on the first of Ordibehesht 92.