Mehdi Chamran, the chairman of Tehran City Council, has expressed his opposition to the new move by Parliament to have the mayors of larger cities chosen by popular vote.
Chamran endorsed the current system of having mayors selected by the various city and municipal councils, adding that all of the 120,000 members of Iranian municipal councils oppose the new proposal.
He stressed that the new bill ignores the value and the mission of city and municipal councils and will have an adverse effect on the development and prosperity of cities.
Iranian Parliament has already approved the first reading of a bill to have the mayors of cities with more than 200,000 residents elected by popular vote.
The approval of another reading could change the system of electing mayors in Iran’s larger cities.