PHOTO: Financial Tribune. Iran Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani attended the 8th Conference on Monetary Policies and Banking & Production Challenges on April 29, 2019.
The 8th Conference on Monetary Policies and Banking & Production Challenges was held Monday to explore the root causes of the lingering economic challenges in Iran.
The event was organized by Donya-e-Eqtesad Media Group, the parent company of Financial Tribune, at Rayzan International Conference Center in northeast Tehran.
Almost all speakers including senior state and government officials were unanimous in their observation that the economy is saddled with extensive government domination, systemic government disregard for advice and proposals by prominent economists and last but not the least, the highly centralized decision-making process.
Majlis Speaker Ali Larijani in his address confirmed that some major problems the economy is afflicted with are “ingrained in the system” and the causes should be found on the cultural landscape.
He rejected claims that a heavier private sector translates into a weaker government but acknowledged that due to dominant left-leaning orientations, both before and after the 1979 Islamic Revolution, the economy had become a function of the government.
He pointed to the implementation of Article 44 of the Constitution as part of the Majlis and government efforts to allow the private sector its rightful space in the economy while admitting that this particular “law has not been enforced properly.”
Article 44 compartmentalizes the economy into three parts, namely public, cooperative and the private sector. It obliges the government to transfer 80% of the shares of state-owned and affiliated companies to nongovernment entities.
The majority of the large companies privatized so far have been acquired by quasi-government organizations because the real private enterprise could not afford it.
Referring to various economic schools of thoughts, the senior lawmaker said the economy should be “premised on the tenets of a market economy” and the government must restrict itself to paving the way for free and fair competition in the market.
PHOTO: Georgian Parliament Speaker Irakli Kobakhidze (left) meets with President of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) Liliane Mauri Pasquier (right)
President of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) Liliane Mauri Pasquier met with Georgian Parliament Speaker Irakli Kobakhidze on Monday as part of her official visit to Georgia on April 29-30.
After the meeting, President of PACE said that “we will continue to search for ways” to resolve conflicts in occupied regions of Georgia South Ossetia and Abkhazia and “establish contact between peoples” at a press briefing.
Pasquier also talked about relations between Georgia and the Council of Europe and said that her visit to Georgia will contribute to further strengthening of the cooperation between the two. “I believe my visit is a good opportunity to highlight the importance of cooperation between the Assembly of the Council of Europe and Georgia. I think this visit will contribute to further strengthening of our cooperation. It is the 20th anniversary of Georgia’s accession to the Council of Europe and Georgia has shown strong spirit during the period of the Council of Europe and implemented democratic reforms in various institutions.”
Georgian Speaker Kobakhidze stated that the role of the Council of Europe is invaluable in development of democracy in Georgia.
PACE President Pasquier will later meet Georgian President Salome Zurabishvili, Prime Minister Mamuka Bakhtadze, Minister of Foreign Affairs Davit Zalkaliani, and the Georgian delegation to PACE.
On April 30, the PACE President will address the Georgian Parliament during a parliamentary session dedicated to the 20th anniversary of Georgia’s accession to the Council of Europe.
PHOTO: EPA-EFE. District employees count and check ballot boxes a day after the general elections at a village in Depok, Indonesia, on April 18, 2019.
On April 17, Indonesia held its presidential and legislative elections, with around 192.8 million people across the archipelago's 17,000 islands eligible to vote in more than 800,000 polling stations.
An estimated six million election workers were involved in the election, which was billed as one of the most complicated single-day ballots ever undertaken.
As of Monday, 311 election officials have died and another 2,232 people have fallen sick after helping to administer the election, according to figures from the National Elections Commission (KPU).
Evi Novida Ginting, a KPU commissioner, said that the deaths were mostly caused by exhaustion and heart attacks. She described election workers as "dedicated and devoted," but "sadly at the cost of neglecting their own physical health." In an interview, she said that “The number of deaths during this year's general elections came as a surprise to us. There were work-related deaths during the previous elections, but not this many."
KPU's Commissioner Ilham Saputra appeared to acknowledge that elections officers had been overworked during the process. "Since the presidential and legislative elections were combined, our polling station officials not only had to endure physical challenges but also mental pressure," Saputra said.
"One day before, they prepared all the needed logistics, set up the tent and ensured that the election invitations were delivered," he said. "It almost seemed like they didn't have much time to rest because at 7am (8pm ET) the following morning they needed to return to the polling stations to count all the ballot cards and open the polling stations to the public."
He hopes a study, proposed by medical students at the University of Indonesia, will help pinpoint the exact reason behind the deaths.
BY MSEAP Cyber Secretariat (mseap@assembly.go.kr) |
