President’s letter to Shahroudi is in violation of Constitution : Iranian GC

TEHRAN, May 9 (MNA) – Guardian Council spokesman said that President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s recent letter to Ayatollah Mahmoud Hashemi Shahroudi was in violation of the Constitution. In a letter published on Monday, which was addressed to Ayatollah Shahroudi, who is the chairmen of the special council tasked with settling disagreements and regulating relations between the three branches of government, Ahmadinejad said that a recently passed law which authorizes the Majlis to oversee the conduct of lawmakers is “discriminatory” and “unconstitutional”. The president also said that the law has granted MPs a degree of legal immunity which constitutes discrimination between the people and their representatives. “According to Article 113 of the Constitution, the president cannot send cautionary notes to the Guardian Council or the organs that are not under the three branches of government,” Abbas Ali Kadkhodaii told on Tuesday. So the president’s letter is in violation of Article 113 of the Constitution, he added. Article 113 states that after Leader, president is the highest official in the country. He is responsible for implementing the Constitution and acting as the head of the executive, except in matters directly concerned with the Leadership.