Majlis will extend 4th plan if govt. insists on withdrawing 5th plan: Iran MP

TEHRAN, Sept. 7 (MNA) – If the administration insists on its request to withdraw the Fifth Development Plan, the parliament will extend the Fourth Development Plan, MP Hossein Sobhaninia said on Monday.

If the administration does not retract its request for withdrawal of the Fifth Development Plan by Tuesday morning, the Majlis will return the plan to the administration, said Sobhaninia, the deputy head of the Majlis National Security and Foreign Policy.

In protest over the amendments to the Fifth Development Plan (2010-2015) made by a special Majlis committee, the administration of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad wrote a letter to the Majlis on Sunday asking it to withdraw the plan.

The request for the withdrawal of the Fifth Development Plan is the culmination of the long-running dispute between the Majlis and the administration.

Previously, the parliament criticized the administration for failing to submit its draft of the Fifth Development Plan on time.

According to the law, the administration was required to submit its draft of the Fifth Development Plan to the Majlis by June 21, 2009 so that the parliament could have approved it three to four months later.

But after months of procrastination, the administration submitted the plan to the Majlis on January 11, 2010.