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Iran
The Majlis
Articles 62 through 90 of the Constitution of 1979 invest legislative
power in the Islamic Consultative Assembly, the parliament, or
Majlis (see Glossary).
Deputies are elected by direct, secret ballot once every four
years. Each deputy represents a geographic constituency, and every
person sixteen years of age and older from a given constituency
votes for one representative. The Majlis cannot be dissolved:
according to Article 63, "elections of each session should be
held before the expiration of the previous session, so that the
country may never remain without an assembly." Article 64 establishes
the number of representatives at 270, but it also provides for
adding one more deputy, at 10-year intervals, for each constituency
population increase of 150,000. Five of the 270 seats are reserved
for the non-Muslim religious minorities: one each for Assyrian
Christians, Jews, and Zoroastrians, and two for Armenian Christians.
The Constitution permits the Majlis to draft its own regulations
pertaining to the election of a speaker and other officers, the
formation of committees, and the holding of hearings. When the
first Majlis convened in the summer of 1980, the deputies voted
to have annual elections for the position of speaker. Rafsanjani
was elected as speaker of the first Majlis; he was reelected six
times through the beginning of 1987. The speaker is assisted by
deputy speakers and the chairmen of various committees.
The Majlis not only has the responsibility of approving the prime
minister and cabinet members but also has the right to question
any individual minister or anyone from the government as a whole
about policies. Articles 88 and 89 require ministers to appear
before the Majlis within ten days to respond to a request for
interpellation. If the deputies are dissatisfied with the information
obtained during such questioning, they may request the Majlis
to schedule a confidence vote on the performance of a minister
or the government.
Article 69 stipulates that Majlis sessions be open to the public,
that regular deliberations may be broadcast over radio and television,
and that minutes of all meetings be published. Since 1980 sessions
of the Majlis have been broadcast regularly. The public airing
of Majlis meetings has demonstrated that the assembly has been
characterized by raucous debate. Economic policies, with the notable
exception of oil policy, have been the most vigorously debated
issues.
Data as of December 1987
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