Iranian media report that Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has ended his dispute with Parliament and accepted its decision over the merging of ministries according to Ahamd Tavakoli.
Conservative MP Ahmad Tavakoli told the media today that Ahmadinejad has met with Ali Larijani, the speaker of the Parliament, and has agreed to “adhere to the Islamic Parliament’s decisions with regard to the merging of ministries.”
In the past week, Ahmadinejad repeatedly resisted Parliament’s demand to be consulted on every detail of ministry mergers. He had maintained that the parliament had charged his administration with reducing the number of ministries from 21 to 17.
Ahmadinejad had said that his cabinet was carrying out this project and rejected parliament’s demand to be consulted every step of the way.
Larijani, on the other hand, had insisted that merging ministries without consulting Parliament was “illegal” and he accused the Ahmadinejad administration of breaking the law.
Yesterday, the powerful Guardian Council threw its weight behind Parliament and announced that the president had to consult it about ministry mergers.
Ahmadinejad’s deputy of Development and Human Resources responded by announcing that the mergers had already been carried out and the Guardian Council’s ruling could not be applied retroactively.
Ahmadinejad has been repeatedly at odds with Parliament over the past year, and his position in the Islamic Republic has become more and more precarious in recent weeks.
