Ahmadinejad’s Budget Is About Iran’s Elections
Iranian President Ahmadinejad has proposed a budget that empowers the president’s office and shows that he is still up for a political battle in his final months in office, writes Mohammad Ali Shabani.
With some two weeks left until the Persian New Year, details of the Iranian government’s proposed budget bill for the calendar year starting March 21 are being leaked.
Mashregh News, linked to Assembly of Experts chairman Ayatollah Mahdavi-Kani, says the government wants to boost its finances while slashing the budgets of competing power centers.
The administration of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has reportedly requested a stunning 82% increase in the executive branch’s operating budget. Meanwhile, it has proposed budget cuts of 17% for the Expediency Council (run by former president Hashemi Rafsanjani), 38% for the Supreme National Security Council (chaired by nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili) and 55% for parliament (headed by Ali Larijani). Strikingly, the government has also requested an effective halving of the budget of the Guardian Council, which vets election candidates and legislation.
Overall, the proposed budget bill — which was customarily delivered late — proposes a 31% increase in spending in rial terms, while anticipating a 40% cut in oil revenues. How can this perceived paradox be reconciled?
