It was a surprise that for the first time after the Islamic Revolution, the parliament rejected next year’s budget bill. A number of representatives have said that the unfair allocation of budget to cities is their reason for rejecting the bill. Others were against the publishing of debt securities in order to compensate current expenses. In the budget for the coming year, the Government had proposed to publish 330 trillion IRR (8.9 billion USD) in debt securities in order to clear the previous year’s debt. Although bonds are usually issued for new civil projects, but one should also ask the lawmakers that if not by this means, how could the Government pay its inherited debts?
Rejection of the budget bill happened while several of lawmakers reached the Parliament late; they were blocked on the roads or airports as heavy snow and cold weather hit the country on Saturday evening.
Mehrabad domestic airport and Imam Khomeini International airport shut down for more than 24 hours, blocking passengers with little accommodation or transfer services.
The head of civil engineering committee of the Parliament, Mohammad Reza Rezai, proposed inviting the Minister of Roads and Urban Development to the Parliament in order to ask why 30 centimeters of snow should lead to a national crisis.
Perhaps it was another sign of being disconnected from the world for nearly four decades.
