Before recessing for he Now Ruz holidays, the Majlis approved an abbreviated budget covering just the first two months of the year.
Thus, the Islamic Republic is once again copying one of the less desirable practices of the United States despite its claims to be everything the United States isn’t.
The US government this year is still operating under “continuing resolutions” as the Congress has been unable to come up with a full year budget despite the fact that the US fiscal year begins October 1 and passed the halfway mark on March 31.
Iran’s fiscal year is the same as the calendar year and began March 21.
In Iran’s case, the hangup is not the result of a dispute within the legislature, but rather the fact that President Ahmadi-nejad consistently ignores the legal deadline for submitting the budget on December 6 and has always submitted it late, presumably to deny the Majlis the time it needs to review the entire budget submission.
This year, the Majlis refused to play the president’s game and rush through the budget before Now Ruz.
In a televised interview, Vice President Mohammad Mir-Tajeddini blamed the Majlis for the delay, saying it had failed to timely approve the latest Five-Year Plan, which the president was required to have to base his budget on. But Deputy Mohammad-Reza Khabaz said the Ahmadi-nejad Administration had submitted the draft of the Five-Year Plan months late and was thus at fault.
Ahmadi-nejad submitted his budget for this year to the Majlis February 20; it was 11 weeks late and left the Majlis only four weeks in which to review it before the new year began instead of the normal 15 weeks.
Ahmadi-nejad did not even bother to apologize for the record late delivery of the budget. The president continued to show disdain for the Majlis, saying his budget plan was so good there was no need for the Majlis to make any changes in it.
Ahmadi-nejad has been from one to two months late in submitting the budget every year before this. The best he has done has been to deliver the budget 32 days late three years ago. Two years ago, he set his old record when he was 53 days late, the daily Jam-e Jam reported. This year, he was 76 days late.