Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei Tuesday pardoned a jailed MP after Iran’s 290-seat Parliament (Majilis) Speaker announced his intention to boycott the assembly until MP Hossein Loqmanian was freed from jail.
Loqmanian, convicted of criticizing Iran’s judiciary in a parliament speech, became the first acting MP to be jailed in nearly 100 years of Iranian parliamentary activity. The declaration by the Speaker heightened the division between reformists such as President Mohammad Khatamai and the hard-line conservatives who dominate the judiciary.
"I announce that the judiciary has committed aggression against parliament," Speaker Mehdi Karroubi remarked in a speech to parliament broadcast live on state radio. "As of tomorrow, I will sit in my office and will not lead the parliamentary sessions until this problem is resolved," Karroubi added.
Karroubi was joined by many deputies in the reformist-dominated parliament when he stormed out. One member called for mass resignation, which could cause numerous by-elections.
President Khatami has called Loqmanian’s imprisonment a “serious threat” to democracy. Loqmanian, a veteran of the 1980-1988 Iran-Iraq war, made the comments that led to his conviction in a speech to parliament last month. Two other MPs also face prosecution over remarks made in parliament.
Most deputies in the reformist-dominated parliament walked out with Kharroubi. They returned in 20 minutes with one calling for mass resignation which could spark dozens of by-elections. It looked unlikely that deputies would act on the call.
However, in response to the parliamentary walk-out, Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei pardoned the jailed reformist. Ayatollah Khamenei said in a letter read on state television that he had accepted a request for the pardon from judiciary chief Ayatollah Mahmud Hashemi-Shahrudi.
The face-saving device temporarily alleviates the intensifying confrontation between MPs and the judiciary. (Albawaba.com)
© 2002 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
