Parliament to question Ahmadinejad over bank scandal

Irans parliament has revived its threat to call in President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad for questioning, with more lawmakers signing a summons that could ultimately lead to the president’s impeachment, media reported on Monday.Less than a week after the legislature dropped a four-month-old motion to summon Ahmadinejad, enough members of parliament have signed the paper to force him to appear.Plan to question Ahmadinejad back on track with increased signatures, ran the front page headline of Siasat-e Rouz daily which, like most newspapers, led with the story that indicates a serious internal political rift is far from healed. But in Tehran some questioned the parliaments move.This issue has a fundamental problem, because no one can ask the president about his chief of staffs beliefs. Summoning the president to the parliament to question him why the thinking of your chief of staff is this way, is difficult in my opinion, said 30-year-old Iranian journalist Ali Montazeri.The conservative-dominated parliament first looked set to issue the unprecedented summons in June when 100 of its 290 members signed the motion -- amid growing criticism of Ahmadinejads policies and what many lawmakers see as his overbearing attitude and disrespect for the legislature. But, with Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei calling for unity among the branches of power, parliaments presiding board held back from issuing the summons until enough lawmakers had removed their signatures to make it invalid.Questioning the president is a provision foreseen in the constitution of the Islamic Republic, some signatures had been gathered first, but later some of the signatories withdrew and it was announced the signatures did not reach the required number (for questioning), but yesterday it was announced that it reached the required number and the parliaments presiding board received it, explained Tehran resident, Mohammed Barzani, aged 42.