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Head of Cultural Commission of Iran's Parliament Decides to Resign
Chairman of the Cultural Commission of Iran's Majlis (parliament) Ahmad Pournejati announced Tuesday he has decided to resign from his post.
The announcement was made in an oration delivered before Tuesday's open session of the parliament, the Islamic Republic News Agency reported.
The decision by Pournejati, a prominent reformist figure, came only two days after a brawl among parliament members (MPs) over the issue of the press law.
Supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei ordered the Majlis on Sunday to withdraw from its agenda a debate on rewriting the press law, which the conservative judiciary used in the past few months to close down some 20 reformist papers and journals.
The order sparked a brawl on the Majlis floor, with some MPs even engaged in physical scuffling.
A legislator from the southern city of Abadan expressed his strong objection to the Majlis decision not to debate the press law, but some other MPs accused him of disrespecting the leader's order.
The reformist-controlled Majlis, which only took power from the previous conservative one on May 27, has vowed to rewrite the restrictive press law, but the direct pressure from the supreme leader has clearly created a setback for it.
With the precedent of Khamenei's direct intervention, it will be very difficult for reformers in the Majlis to carry out their campaign pledge of pushing through President Mohammad Khatami's reform programs.
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