Tuesday, October 6, 2009

Principlists file complaint against First Vice President

Three conservative members of the Majlis have filed a complaint against Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's beleaguered First Vice President Mohammad Reza Rahimi for forging his doctorate.

Ahmad Tavakoli, head of the Majlis's research center, Elias Naderan, and Alireza Zakani, all members of the Principlist faction of the Majlis supposedly allied with the government, filed their complaint with the legislature's Article 90 Committee, according to Hossein Eslami, vice-chairman of the committee.

Rahimi has been the target of some Principlists close to Speaker Ali Larijani for at least a year and his ascension to the post of first vice president, next in line for the presidency if Ahmadinejad becomes incapacitated, has enraged his adversaries even more. Naderan has been leading a campaign against Rahimi and in the past weeks has presented the Majlis with documents allegedly proving Rahimi's guilt. The documents have been published in Tavakoli's news web site, Alef.

The legislators allege that Rahimi forged his academic degree and subsequently enjoyed state privileges and salaries based on the fake credentials.

The Article 90 Committee of the Majlis, created by the constitutional article of the same name, investigates complaints against the three branches of government. 'In cases where the subject of the complaint is of public interest, the reply must be made public,' according to the constitution of the Islamic Republic.