Article 136 of the Iranian Regime’s Constitution and the Trouble with Kordan’s Resignation or Impeachment
With the confession of Ali Kordan, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s Interior Minister, about his forged PhD, Masters and Bachelor degrees, the pressure has been mounting on him to resign or to summon him to the regime’s Majlis (Parliament).for impeachment. The latter turned into reality for already in troubled Mahmoud Ahmadinejad today.
State-run media have announced that with the resignation or impeachment of Kordan, in accordance with Article 136 of the regime’s Constitution, Ahmadinejad’s entire cabinet would be the subject of a new vote of confidence from the Majlis.
To date, Ahmadinejad has replaced the following ministers:
Welfare and Social Security, Cooperatives, Justice, Oil, Industry, Education, Economy, Interior and Road and Transportation;
Article 136
Article 136 of the regime’s Constitution reads:
“The President can dismiss the ministers and in such a case he must obtain a vote of confidence for the new minister(s) from the Majlis. In case half of the members of the Council of Ministers are changed after the government has received its vote of confidence from the Majlis, the government must seek a fresh vote of confidence from the Majlis.”
The cabinet is comprised of 21 ministers. If 11 of them are dismissed, in accordance with the above article, there must be a vote of confidence for the entire cabinet. That means following Kordan’s dismissal, the cabinet would be on the brink of a new vote of confidence.
Legal Uncertainty
State-run media have marshaled so-called experts supporting Ahmadinejad’s cabinet, who claim that the correct interpretation of Article 136 of the Constitution dictates that the cabinet would be subject to a vote of confidence only if the 11 ministers were to be dismissed all at once.
In contrast to these doubts, the cabinet’s opponents have offered evidence, which involves a request for advice from the Guardian Council by Mirhossein Moussavi, the regime’s former Prime Minister.
This document dates back to 1983, and was the subject of a correspondence between Mirhossein Moussavi, then Prime Minister, and the Guardian Council (which is a body in charge of the legal interpretation of the Constitution).
The text of the regime’s former Prime Minister request to the Guardian Council:
Dear Guardian Council,
In light of the recent doubts regarding the implementation of Article 136 of the Constitution, I respectfully request your advice, in accordance with Article 98, with regards to the following:
1. Part of Article 136 stipulates, ‘In case half of the members of the Council of Ministers are changed after the government has received its vote of confidence from the Majlis, the government must seek a fresh vote of confidence from the Majlis.’ Does this relate to a case where members of the cabinet are replaced all at once, or where the changes have taken place in whatever format since the date of the vote of confidence?
2. If the latter, in case the number of members of the Council of Ministers has increased since the vote of confidence from the Majlis, according to which criterion would the term ‘half’ be applied to the composition of the cabinet?
Mirhossein Moussavi,
Prime Minister
Official Reply from the Guardian Council
Dear Mr. Mirhossein Moussavi, Prime Minister,
Following your letter, no. 8334/M N dated November 28, 1983, with regards to a question about Article 136 of the Constitution, the issue was addressed and discussed at the official session of the Guardian Council. The majority view of the Guardian Council’s members (more than three quarters) is as follows:
1. The relevant part of Article 136 of the Constitution (which states, ‘… In case half of the members of the Council of Ministers are changed after the government has received its vote of confidence from the Majlis, the government must seek a fresh vote of confidence from the Majlis’), does not apply exclusively to a case where the change in half of the cabinet ministers has taken place all at once. Rather, it can be applied to changes that have occurred in whatever format since the date of the vote of confidence from the Majlis. In light of these situations, the government must request a new vote of confidence from the Majlis.
2. If the number of members of the Council of Ministers has increased, the term half is applied to whatever composition of Council of Ministers that happens to exist at the time. That is, at any time, in light of the number of Council of Ministers at that particular time, if it is perceived that half of its members have been changed, a request for a vote of confidence from the Majlis would be called for.
Deputy Secretary of the Guardian Council, Hossein Mehrpour.
With this document, any alternative interpretation from the government and its supporters has effectively been blocked.
Note: The reports about this issue imply that following Kordan’s dismissal, a vote of confidence would be required for the entire cabinet. However, Kordan would be the tenth minister to change, and in accordance with the above article, a vote of confidence would be required upon the dismissal of the eleventh minister.
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Reza Shafa is an expert on the Iranian regime's Intelligence networks, both in Iran and abroad. He has done extensive research on Iranian Ministry of Information and Security (MOIS) also known as VEVAK, Intelligence Office of Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), and Qods Force among others. Currently he is a contributor to NCRI website.