Subsidy reform irregularities may be reported to Judiciary: Iranian MP

TEHRAN, Dec. 26 (MNA) – MP Qolamreza Mesbahi-Moqaddam said that if the administration fails to provide the production sector with a share of the revenues generated from the subsidy elimination, the irregularities will be referred to the Judiciary. “If the administration does not fulfill its legal obligation to redistribute the revenues to the production sector, the Majlis will use its legal leverage and will send… the report on the administration’s performance and its failure to implement the law to the Judiciary,” Mesbahi-Moqaddam, who is the chairman of the special committee on the economic reform plan, told on Sunday. “We have not referred the case to the Judiciary so far for a number of considerations,” he added. The MP went on to say that according to the law that had been ratified by the Majlis, 30 percent of the revenues from the subsidy elimination had to be allocated to the production sector; however, the share has decreased to 20 percent in the current Iranian calendar year, which started on March 21. “If the (share) be given to producers, many of their problems will be resolved, they will be able to make changes to and reform their production infrastructure in such a way that reliance on energy would decrease and production would be economical. In this case, energy consumption could be managed better and efficiency will increase,” he stated. “However, if in the next phase (of the implementation of the subsidy reform plan), the administration does not forget (to give) the share of the production sector, there would be no need to refer (the case) to the Judiciary,” he added.