“Because of the beginning of the new Persian year, we should also make some jokes together,” Ahmadi-nejad told the Majlis March 14, treating his appearance very lightly.
It was the first time the Majlis had ever summoned a president to face questioning. But the format didn’t allow for any back and forth or follow-up questions.
A Majlis deputy had 15 minutes in which to read out the 10 questions that had been published long before. The President then had an hour to answer them. Rather than a Q&A session, it was really just an hour-long speech by Ahmadi-nejad. The format allowed for no interaction, which prompted many deputies to oppose the session, concluding that Ahmadi-nejad was just being given yet another platform to make his on points unchallenged.
“Given Mr. Ahmadi-nejad’s eloquence and explicit tone, it can be easily assumed that Mr. Ahmadi-nejad will use the opportunity to present issues in such a way that will make the public think the responses to the questions were good enough,” said conservative Deputy Ahmad Tavakkoli one day before the questioning.
In response to a question about his administration’s lack of interest in enforcing the dress code, Ahmadi-nejad said, “People should be treated with respect and kindness. We should not disrespect them and cause problems for people when we have some cultural problems.” He then inquired of the deputies if they had not sinned, asking why others should be treated more strictly than themselves.
In response to a question about why the government had not disbursed funds approved by the Majlis to finance construction of the Tehran Metro, the president said the government did not have any money for this purpose.
“We only had the reserve fund of the government, which is empty. The Central Bank has said in a note that the balance is zero,” he said.
Some of his answers belied his weakening standing in Iran’s political order, displaying the confident and defiant demeanor that is his trademark. Answering a question about why he had stayed home a week last April—allegedly in anger after the Supreme Leader overturned his sacking of the intelligence minister—Ahmadi-nejad said he had never stopped work.
“This is one of those things – Ahmadi-nejad staying home and resting. Some of my friends have repeatedly told me to rest. In this government, work has never been stopped for even a day.”
Deputies had complained that Ahmadi-nejad implemented the shift from subsidies to welfare payments ineptly and had fed inflation and the fall of the rial. The president simply responded, “The recent economic crisis and high prices have nothing to do with the subsidies.” The deputies had no opportunity under the format to respond.
Some of the questions betrayed the power struggle between the legislative and executive branches of the government. The MPs asked why the president had said, in contravention to the Supreme Leader’s views, that the Majlis is not the superior branch of power in the country. Ahmadi-nejad simply said that was his personal view and he was entitled to freedom of speech under the constitution.
He was also asked about his dismissal of Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki while Mottaki was on a visit to Senegal. Ahmadi-nejad reminded the Majlis that the issue of dismissal of cabinet ministers was none of the legislature’s business.
“Under Article 136 of the Constitution, ministers can be dismissed by the president and there is no reason for the president to be questioned about this,” he said.
When Deputy Ali Motahari exceeded his 15-minute questioning time, Ahmadi-nejad reminded the Majlis that he, too, would take more than the allotted one hour. However, he only used about 40 minutes of his time.
Later, he called the questions easy and took another jab at the MPs:
“It was not a very difficult quiz,” he said. “To me, those who designed the questions were from among those who got a master’s degree by just pushing a button. If you had consulted us, better questions could have been drawn up,” he said. The educational reference is to the law requiring lawmakers to have at least a master’s degree.
Ahmadi-nejad boasted he had performed optimally in the questioning, demanding the maximum grade. “Be fair. Give a good grade. Any grade of less than 20 [the maximum in Iran’s school system] would be rude,” he said.
Most deputies were not only unimpressed but also furious at he president’s jocular manner. “Is this a joke?” Deputy Mohammad-Reza Khabbaz asked.
“The Majlis is a serious place and not a venue for jokes,” Speaker Ali Larijani scolded the president.
Deputy Mohammad-Taqi Rahbar said the president had insulted the Majlis. “Ahmadi-nejad’s responses to lawmakers’ questions were illogical, illegal and an attempt to avoid answering. With an insulting tone, Ahmadi-nejad made fun of lawmakers’ questions and insulted the Majlis.”
Farida Farhi of the University of Hawaii, said, “His performance was the performance of a man safe in the knowledge that he will not be impeached. The members of parliament cried foul that he insulted and mocked their questions, but a concerted effort to push for the next step [impeachment] is highly unlikely because everyone is quite aware of the costs of bringing him down in the midst of all the external pressures Iran is under.”
RAND Corporation analyst Alireza Nader agreed: “In some ways the threat of Ahmadi-nejad has receded. I really don’t see it in the interest of the system for him to resign or be impeached. It makes more sense for Ahmadi-nejad to fade away.”
Some conservative deputies seem to be in agreement with this analysis. Deputy Ahmad Tavakkoli said that if the president doesn’t reduce the frequency of his “errors, replacing him should not be delayed,” but also cautioned against taking any hasty measures:
A total of 79 deputies signed the petition demanding the president’s appearance before the Majlis. According to one published accounting, only 12 of those deputies were reelected this month. Twenty-six decided not to seek reelection, 33 lost their bids, while the remaining eight await their fate in the run-offs.