Majlis Cannot Change Structure of the Budget Bill
IRAN NEWS NATIONAL DESK
TEHRAN – Spokesman to the Guardian Council says Majlis cannot change the structure of next year’s budget bill which has been submitted by President Hassan Rouhani and it can only change details and figures of the bill.
Speaking in a presser, Abbas-Ali Kadkhodaee reacted to claims of some Majlis lawmakers, who have claimed Majlis will reject the government budget bill and will have a new one, and said Majlis is not in a position to change the structure of budget bill but it can change the details and figures in the bill.
He said the GC is concerned about the budget bill and it has always been because the budget bill should be an efficient one and proportionate to the national needs and to cover all sectors. He added the council expects Majlis to review the bill with more care and scrutiny. He reiterated that if Majlis decides to change the whole structure of the budget bill, the council will reject it because it is against the Constitutions.
In response to the question on the Guardian Council’s opinion to amend the presidential election law which is being considered and approved by the parliament, Kadkhodaee highlighted that until the ratification of the Guardian Council is not received, no comment can be made, and any comment without approval is considered personal.
Amending the law is a measure that the Islamic Consultative Assembly has taken, but it is not yet possible to predict, he stressed.
Responding to the question on “If the COVID-19 outbreak would be acute until the presidential election, are new voting methods will be implemented, Kadkhodaee stated that if you mean vote by mail ballots, the law does not allow to do so, but we give our advice and comments to the parliament and the Ministry of Interior.
Working groups have been formed between the Ministry of Interior and the Guardian Council, and if there is no need to amend the law, we will increase the number of polling stations, yet presidential election voting will be electronic.
While congratulating Nurse Day, the Guardian Council spokesman underlined that the nurses and medical staff carried out their duties perfectly amid the coronavirus outbreak and even some of them lost their lives while combating the disease and saving people’s lives.
Condemning Martyr Mohsen Fakhrizadeh’s assassination by terrorists, the Guardian Council Spokesman noted that the enemies cannot bear the Islamic Republic of Iran’s scientific progress.
On the next year presidential election, he said health of election is the major task of all bodies and safeguarding people’s votes is the main task and the other task this year will be the health of voters in the coronavirus condition.
He added that this year all executive bodies and GC should try to plan the elections in a way that all sanitary protocols are observed. On electronizing the election, he said the infrastructures should let the elections be held electronically and the interior ministry is pursuing this idea to prepare the infrastructures and the GC will not oppose e-voting.
On registering for the presidential election, Kadkhodaee said that all those who have disqualified in the past also can register for the presidential election but the GC will decide their fates based on the current condition and documents.
He expressed hope the amendment of the presidential election would be completed before the start of registration for the election.
