TEHRAN, Iran, March 3
Trend:
Iran Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei agreed to delegate the Integration Committee of Parliament the right to approve the budget bill in absence of public meeting of the Parliament over the coronavirus outbreak, Trend reports citing Mehr news agency.
The spokesman for Iran's Parliament Presiding Board Assadollah Abbasi informed about the letter of the Speaker of the Parliament Ali Larijani to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on approval of the budget bill of the next Iranian year (starts on March 21, 2020) according to Article 85 of the Constitution.
Referring to the letter, Abbasi said that the speaker of the parliament requested the supreme leader to let the integration committee to review and approve the budget bill according to the Article 85 of the constitution, since the parliament cannot hold a meeting due to the decision of national Committee on Combating Coronavirus.
According to the constitution, the only solution is to have the Supreme Leader directive on this issue, Abbassi noted adding that following this letter, the supreme leader has issued the directive.
“Accordingly, it was decided that the budget bill approved by the Budget Integration Committee will be sent to the Guardian Council,” he said. “The Budget bill will be considered legally approved if the Guardian Council approves it.”
So far, the coronavirus test of 23 Iranian MPs were positive, Abdulreza Mesri, deputy speaker of the Iranian parliament, said on March 3.
On February 18, the national Committee on Combating Coronavirus announced the closure of Parliament until further notice due to the outbreak of the coronavirus.