In its proposed bill, the administration has stated that that the income gained from normalizing the price of energy and commodities should be deposited in a special fund.
However, the Majlis has said that the revenues must be kept in the treasury and spent within the framework of the annual national budget, which would allow the Majlis to supervise how it is spent.
Lawmakers said the establishment of a subsidy fund, which is mentioned in clause 13 of the proposed subsidy bill, is unconstitutional.
According to some MPs, after the Majlis voted against the establishment of a subsidy fund, the president wrote a letter in the parliament and presented it to the legislature’s presiding board announcing the withdrawal of the bill. However, some lawmakers said the president did not write such a letter.
To reconcile the view of the administration and lawmakers, the parliamentary presiding board held a special meeting on Tuesday afternoon to find a way to resolve the dispute over the subsidy fund.
The Majlis has already approved the subsidy bill -- also known as the economic reform plan -- which would allow the government to normalize prices over a five-year period.
The president, who had visited parliament on Tuesday without prior notice, said his administration cannot take responsibility for implementing such a heavy task unless it has a free hand.
Before the president arrived at the Majlis, the lawmakers voted to put the revenues, which are projected to amount to over 20 billion dollars, in the treasury so that the State Audit Court can supervise how it is spent.
Ahmadinejad warned that if the subsidy bill is linked to the annual national budget, it will not be possible to implement it because annual budgets change every year.
“(They) told us to present a bill for redirecting subsidies, and now that we have presented a bill, they say that it must be linked to the annual budget,” he told the parliament.
“We cannot bear such a heavy burden with our hands tied.”
Ahmadinejad said he had even told the Supreme Leader that he will not undertake the implementation of the economic reform plan if it is linked to the annual budget.
A member of the central council of the Majlis principlist faction said here on Tuesday that Ahmadinejad and Majlis Speaker Ali Larijani were going to meet later in the day.
MP Hossein Ebrahimi told ISNA that the central council of the Majlis principlist faction had a meeting on Tuesday where it was decided that Larijani and Ahmadinejad should meet to make sure that the administration’s concerns are addressed and the bill is not unconstitutional.
And Larijani and Ahmadinejad were scheduled to meet late on Tuesday to pave the way for the ratification of the plan, he added.
PA/SL/HG
END
MNA