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Emergency Meeting Over Iranian Presidency
TEHRAN, August 6 (IslamOnline & News Agencies)- The state Expediency Council, the highest arbitration body in Iran, is set to "urgently debate" the ongoing spat between the judiciary and parliamentary branches over the election of lawyers to the oversight Guardian Council (GC), the official Iranian news agency (IRNA) reported on Monday.
The debate came after the Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, instructed Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, Chairman of the Expediency Council, to put forward a proposal on Sunday that would end the row between the legislature and the judiciary branch.
"Given the fact that the Islamic Consultative Council parliament has not reached a quorum over the election of the lawyers to the Guardians Council and due to the constitutional ambiguity (thereof), it is required the swearing-in ceremonies are postponed until the legal ground is reinstated," Ayatollah Khamenei said in a short letter issued late Saturday.
The Expediency Council is the senior-most body charged with resolving constitutional issues.
Kamenei's statement followed a parliamentary move to reject two judiciary nominees for the posts of Guardian Council (GC) jurists.
The reformist-majority parliament (majlis) has twice rejected candidates fielded for vacant seats on the Guardian Council.
Monday's emergency meeting also came after the head of the judiciary rejected a compromise put forward by parliamentary speaker Mehdi Karrubi.
Early Sunday, Karrubi proposed a compromise by asking for a joint committee to find a solution.
He proposed to the delegation, consisting of representatives of the judiciary and legislature, as well as the leader, to sit down and settle the difference in order to enable the parliament " to hold the swearing-in of the president as soon as possible," IRNA reported.
But, he was rebuffed by the head of the judiciary, Ayatollah Shahrudi, who told parliament that the only way forward was for parliament to approve the candidates nominated by the judiciary.
The crisis developed when parliament - led by the reformists - refused to approve two new GC candidates put forward by the conservative-dominated judiciary, a powerful body that vets all legislation.
Out of the six candidates introduced by the judiciary for GC membership, MPs only voted for Ebrahim Azizi, who won 150 of 238 votes cast in parliament, IRNA reported.
The 12-member GC, comprising of six jurists appointed by the supreme leader and six lawyers, oversees laws passed by parliament, so as to enforce conformity with Islamic teachings and the national constitution.
The lawyers, proposed by the judiciary, are elected by parliament (majlis).
According to the BBC's online service, the intervention of Ayatollah Khamenei - in asking Rafsanjani to find a solution - may work against the reformists in parliament.
Rafsanjani has been an ally of the conservatives in trying to control the reform movement and in allegedly diverting it away from uncomfortable political demands on economic and social issues, such as unemployment and corruption.
Conservatives' control over the GC body, which supervises elections and examines laws to ensure their compatibility with the constitution and with Islamic precepts, was a major thorn in Khatami's first tenure as president, when it blocked many of his ambitious reforms.
Khatami won a landslide victory over other mostly conservative challengers in the June 8 presidential elections, winning nearly 80 percent of the popular vote.
Conservatives charged him of relaxation on social restrictions, especially regarding women, which they say is undermining the Islamic foundations of the regime and is tempting youths, who make up two-thirds of the population, away from Islam.
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