Rejection of Parliament laws for not being in accordance with dictated "general policies" Of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei is unconstitutional, an outspoken Majles representative said in an open letter to the Supreme Leader published yesterday.
Ali Motahari harshly attacked the entities under Khamenei's control in a speech on December 10. Yesterday he published a letter to Khamenei, which made hardline supporters of the Supreme Leader even angrier.
In his letter the maverick lawmaker complains about deadlock in legislation resulting from the interference of watchdog entities under Khamenei's control and the general policies dictated by him and calls on him to break the deadlock.
Khamenei controls the Majles, among other means, through his appointed entities such as the Guardian Council and the Expediency Council.
In some instances, Khamenei directly interferes and makes the Parliament take certain bills off its agenda or vote against them. The latest instance was his order to the Majles not to oppose the government decision to increase the price of gasoline in November which had led to bloody protests.
Khamenei also uses the Expediency Council to dictate his preferred policies known as the "General Policies of the System". These are a series of policies which he formally issues as directives to all government bodies including the Management and Planning Organization.
In his letter Motahari has reminded Khamenei that the Constitution has not given him, or the entities appointed by him, the right to dictate laws as they please. "General Policies" are not the same as the Constitution or its amendments," he wrote in his letter.
The hardline Keyhan newspaper attacked Motahari today and said the likes of Motahari should be taken to task and be accountable for insisting on imposing calamities worse than the nuclear agreement with the West on the country.
A hardline cleric and politician threatened Motahari with disqualification from running in the upcoming elections. "Waiting to find out whether the Guardian Council will qualify the person who…accuses the Supreme Leader in the gasoline issue to run in the elections…", Alireza Panahian said in a tweet.
