Memoirs of Akbar Hashemi – July 10, 1983

At eight in the morning, the open session began. The proposal requiring a two-thirds majority to approve the necessity of suspending the application of primary rulings was on the agenda. Since it concerned the parliamentary bylaws, it failed to obtain a two-thirds majority and was rejected; the Imam has said that a two-thirds majority is necessary. The Imam's directive will be followed, and it is better that it not be included in the bylaws so that they do not run into problems in the future; because of the numerous cases of disagreement between the Parliament and the Guardian Council and the stagnation of parliamentary legislation - because the Guardian Council considers them contrary to Islamic law or the Constitution - the Imam has devised a solution and ordered that if it is approved by two-thirds of the [parliamentary] representatives and is designated as necessary and temporary, it will no longer need the Guardian Council's approval.  

Mr. Nateq-Nouri, the Minister of Interior, had requested time to speak about the Foundation for War Victims. A number of representatives had decided, as a protest against his interview - which had been regarded as insulting to Parliament - to leave the session when he entered. I stopped them; they agreed and stayed, but they behaved very harshly and insultingly. Mr. Nateq-Nouri also backed down; although he made his points, he did so with restraint. Controlling the Parliament was very difficult; it ended well.

I spent some of my time on the issue of determining the location for holding the first session [of the Assembly of Experts [for Leadership]]. The people of Qom insist that it be held in Qom; the Guardian Council is opposed to holding it in Qom for security reasons and has announced that it should be in Tehran. The Revolutionary Guards also do not guarantee security. The Imam has also said that if there is no security in Qom, it should be held in Tehran. There is a danger of bombing.

In the afternoon, a group of representatives who hold a meeting on the sidelines of Parliament came. We talked for two hours. They were concerned about the growing power of the right-wingers, the bazaar merchants, the [Society of] Seminary Teachers [of Qom] and... and were trying to have ministers from that camp, especially Messrs. [Habibollah] Asgaroladi and [Ahmad] Tavakoli, removed, and the pressure being brought on [Ali Akbar Nateq-Nouri], the Minister of Interior, and the Minister of Commerce, is also the work of these same people. They were trying to win my support; I warned them against extremism and assured them that there was no danger.

I attended the central council meeting of the [Islamic Republic] Party. The Prime Minister, with the Imam's written permission, had dismissed some officials of the Ministry of Commerce, including the head of the Grain Organization, and Mr. Asgaroladi [Minister of Commerce] was very dissatisfied. It took up some of the meeting's time. After the meeting, we had a meeting until eleven o'clock with Messrs. [Ayatollah] Khamenei, [Mohammad-Mahdi] Rabbani-Amolshi and [Mohammad-Ali] Movahedi-Kermani. I came to Parliament late and did not sleep until dawn. I signed more than 600 orders concerning the new personnel decisions of Parliament, including promotions and additional salaries - which have also risen considerably-.