Impeach Ahmadinejad!

Has a nice ring, don't you think?

Iran's parliament seems to think so:

Iran's parliament revealed it planned to impeach President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad but refrained under orders from Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, exposing a deepening division within the regime.

Lawmakers also launched a new petition to bring a debate on the president's impeachment, conservative newspapers reported Monday.

But it seems that the motivation is not so much dissatisfaction with Ahmadinejad's performance as president as will a power struggle between the two.


Still, that does not mean that the parliament has to look hard in order to find reasons for impeachment:

They accused him and his government of 14 counts of violating the law, often by acting without the approval of the legislature. Charges include illegally importing gasoline and oil, failing to provide budgetary transparency and withdrawing millions of dollars from Iran's foreign reserve fund without getting parliament's approval.

"The president and his cabinet must be held accountable in front of the parliament," the report stated. "A lack of transparency and the accumulation of legal violations by the government is harming the regime."

The moves against Mr. Ahmadinejad come as the regime faces domestic pressure over his plans to gradually eliminate subsidies for fuel, food and utilities from an economy strained by a string of international sanctions over Tehran's controversial nuclear program.

Authorities have tightened security and arrested members of the opposition to prevent riots and uprisings in response to the subsidy cuts, which economists say will drive up inflation.

As of Monday, the parliament had collected 40 of the 74 signatures necessary to bring the issue of impeaching Ahmadinejad to open debate.

I was going over past posts I've written specifically about Ahmadinejad's problems as president over the years. I noticed that actually, this is not the first time that the parliament has tried to impeach Ahmadinejad. They tried to impeach Ahmadinejad back in January 2007 as well:

Iranian reformist lawmakers have started collecting signatures in Parliament to demand the impeachment of the country's president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. So far, 38 signatures have been collected out of the 72 required to formally summon Ahmadinejad and request his impeachment. Noureddin Pirmouzen, a deputy with the reformist minority, says it is nonetheless "positive to question" the head of the executive branch.

...Issa Saharkhiz, editor and political analyst, told Adnkronos International (AKI) that "Ahmadinejad's golden era is over."

Maybe not golden, but not quite brass either.

Maybe second time's the charm?

Technorati Tag: Ahmadinejad.