Iran's parliament voted on Wednesday to
take Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to court over his takeover of the country's
vital oil ministry, escalating the power struggle between the president
and the hard-line establishment that has turned against him.
The
165-1 vote was the latest salvo in the political maneuvering that began
when Ahmadinejad publicly challenged Iran's supreme leader in April,
only to back down. The confrontations appear to be part of a power
struggle ahead of parliamentary elections next year and the vote for
Ahmadinejad's successor in mid-2013.
Lawmakers were infuriated
when Ahmadinejad consolidated a series of ministries without
parliamentary approval, fired the oil minister and named himself as the
replacement. The takeover also technically puts Ahmadinejad at the helm
of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, since Iran
this year holds the rotating presidency.
It's unclear whether
Wednesday's vote in the 290-member parliament will actually be followed
by charges or a lawsuit against Ahmadinejad, but it clearly pits the
president against a majority of lawmakers, including parliamentary
speaker Ali Larijani, a leader of a rival camp within the conservative
political bloc. If charges proceed against the president, he could well
face an investigation by the judiciary, which is led by Larijani's
brother.
Ahmadinejad was re-elected president in 2009 in a
disputed vote that sent Iran into its worst internal chaos since the
1979 Islamic Revolution. He has tried unsuccessfully to position a
protege to succeed him, but many of his allies, including the Larijani
brothers and apparently Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, are
turning against him in their own efforts to retain power.
The
legislators voted 165-1 to refer Ahmadinejad to the judiciary after a
parliament committee report concluded his action in taking over the oil
ministry was unconstitutional. Some lawmakers have already hinted that
he may stand to gain financially from the self-appointment. Remaining
lawmakers were absent or abstained.
"This illegal and hasty
action will damage the Islamic Republic of Iran's interests on the
global level," the parliament committee report said. "As (caretaker)
oil minister, Ahmadinejad has issued and will continue to issue orders
that are obviously illegal interference."
William Martel, a
Professor of International Security at Tufts University's Fletcher
School, concurred that Ahmadinejad's takeover of the oil industry
"doesn't bode well for global energy markets."
"With Iran's
record in the last handful of years on a range of foreign policy
issues, I don't know that this would be seen as terribly reassuring to
the global energy market," he said.
Martel also said that Ahmadinejad's behavior strikes him as "authoritarian, erratic and unpredictable."
About
50 legislators have signed a petition to summon Ahmadinejad to appear
in parliament to answer questions, short of the one-quarter needed to
order a president for questioning before the Iranian assembly for the
first time since 1979.
Those behind the petition want Ahmadinejad
to respond to a long list of accusations, including refusing to carry
out laws passed by parliament, withdrawing money from state funds
without authorization and his alleged lack of transparency on budget
spending. AP
