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Iran's Supreme Leader Confirms Proposal on GC Seats
Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has confirmed a proposal on filling the two vacant seats of the oversight Guardians Council (GC) to end a row between the Majlis (parliament) and the judiciary, local media reported on Tuesday.
The proposal was made and submitted to Khamenei by the Expediency Council (EC), an arbitration body to solve disputes between the parliament and the GC, late Monday night following an emergency session, the official IRNA news agency reported.
According to the proposal, if candidates introduced by the judiciary for the GC do not secure an absolute majority during the parliament's first round of voting, two of them who gain the relative majority will be elected in the second round voting.
The 12-member GC, which oversees laws passed by the parliament to ensure their conformity with the Islamic teachings and the the Constitution, comprises six jurists appointed by the supreme leader and six lawyers elected by parliament from a list prepared by the judiciary.
Selections for half the council's elected positions are renewed every three years.
On Saturday, the reformist-majority Majlis approved only one of the candidates nominated by the conservative judiciary for three vacant GC seats and twice rejected all other candidates.
The row has prompted the supreme leader to postpone the investiture of re-elected President Mohammad Khatami initially scheduled for last Sunday, and order EC Chairman Ali Akbar Rafsanjani to put forward the proposal to end the row.
During a three-and-half-hour session on Monday, the EC discussed the matter with the judiciary's chief Ayatollah Hashemi Shahroudi, Majlis Speaker Mehdi Karrubi, and GC Secretary Ahmad Jannati, and made the proposal.
The confirmation of the proposal by the supreme leader would pave the way for President Khatami's investiture.
Khatami was re-elected in a landslide victory in the June 8 presidential election.
According to the Constitution, the president-elect should be sworn in at the parliament before taking office.
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