Qalibaf: The Seventh Development Plan is our National Pact document/We should not talk about the opposition's position

According to Ashura News, citing ISNA, Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf, Speaker of the Islamic Consultative Assembly, during the public session of today's evening session (Tuesday, November 10) of the Islamic Consultative Assembly and in concluding the two days of the Assembly's oversight of the implementation of the Seventh Development and Progress Program, stated: First of all, I would like to extend my greetings to the President and the esteemed ministers, deputies, and dear ones who are our guests, and once again, I would like to express my appreciation and gratitude to each of my colleagues who have seriously worked on the discussion regarding the one-year performance of the program in the past two days.

He continued: Yesterday, colleagues and friends of the government worked hard and we reached a conclusion in reality that, God willing, can be our guiding light for the second year of the program. During these two days, members of the media were very active and sensitive in following the issues on the floor of the Assembly and deserve appreciation.

Qalibaf clarified: The first point I would like to point out is that today, our only superior document and our only national pact is the Seventh Program. In any case, 1404 is the end of the 20-year plan, and this will be our definitive document.

The Speaker of the Parliament said: The Seventh Plan Law was prepared in cooperation with the government and the parliament, and both institutions did this work in good coordination. Mr. President Dr. Pezhakian was personally involved when the plan was prepared, and he was responsible for the committee related to the health sector.

He reminded: The President announced to the people during the elections that "my plan is this Seventh Plan." Our plan in the parliament is the Seventh Plan. It is a blessed event that today, all officials of the country at different levels are committed to a common and coherent plan.

The Speaker of the Parliament expressed his excitement: Remember the past when in the days, the government said that writing a plan was not the legal duty of the parliament and that the government itself would write the plan. Today, let us see this coordination and empathy that we are all unanimously committed to implementing this plan.

Ghalibaf stated: Many elites and think tanks acknowledge that among the past six development programs, the seventh program is the most precise and most implemented program that has been prepared so far.

He added: Another important feature of the program is that in Article 118, with the help of our friends in the government and parliament, for the first time among the past development programs, retrospective monitoring has been foreseen. That is, today, as we are in the first year of the program's implementation, we have all gathered here to review what we have done in this one year and what we should do. In the past, usually 5 or 6 years passed since the program's implementation, and only at the end, a general review was conducted, with no experience being transferred or lessons learned.

The speaker of the parliament stated; Today, the approach is different; the government and parliament are sitting together to review the performance report, summarize the results, and based on that, correct the course for next year. According to the plan, we will convey the summary of this meeting to the government, and the government has one month to present Bill 1405 on this basis on January 1st, so that we can resolve the problems in the second year of the program and not let the problems continue until the end of the program.

We should not talk about the opposition’s position

He stated: As a small servant, alongside my dear friends in the parliament and also my dear brother, Mr. Dr. Pezhakian in the government who is responsible for the presidency, I say that we should not talk about the opposition’s position. Today, we are all responsible and it is our responsibility to solve the problems, and we must focus on how to do the work. If we are justice-seeking and concerned about the oppressed and deprived, and we want a proud country and a strong Iran, and to follow the path of the martyrs and not oppress the future generation, we must hand over the outcome of the work to the people.

He stated: We must focus on the document that we have in our hands today. Any disregard for it means disloyalty to doing this work; Whether it's the parliament, the government, the private sector, or the elites of society; the Seventh Plan is our national pact.

The Speaker of the Parliament said: We are facing several serious challenges, including bank imbalances and the water crisis. In the case of water, its production is not in our control and is a divine blessing, but its consumption is in our hands. In the Seventh Plan, clear tasks have been set for the management of water resources and consumption. Now that we see that rainfall has decreased by about three percent compared to previous years, we must ask ourselves whether we are actually moving forward with the program? Does our consumption behavior and policymaking comply with the same framework as stated in the plan?

Qalibaf continued: If there is criticism or a problem with the program, we must correct it; in the area of ​​poverty, we are facing a lack of income due to improper income distribution, but we are spending the same existing assets in the worst way.

The Speaker of the Islamic Consultative Assembly continued: Regarding the issue of budget imbalance, naturally, both the parliament and the government should pay special attention to this issue. Similarly, special focus should be placed on the energy imbalance and the imbalance of pension funds. In the field of food security, as well as structural and procedural inefficiencies and especially the lack of productivity in the country's administrative system, the situation is truly worrying and this issue has been seriously revealed in all areas.

Referring to the report of the Islamic Consultative Assembly, he continued: In the table on page 27 that I read to my friends yesterday, it is clear what the factors that caused the unsatisfactory performance in the first year of the program's implementation were. According to that report, the lack of resources accounted for only 23 percent of the weight of the problems, but in contrast, inconsistencies, structural weakness, functional weakness and lack of productivity had a much higher share. However, whenever we talk about the country's problems, we usually only talk about the lack of resources. Of course, I am not saying that our resources are sufficient, but the reality is that we are spending our existing resources poorly.

Pointing out that we have serious challenges in areas such as lack of productivity, education system and culture, livelihood and health, Ghalibaf stated: These are our main challenges. I say that even if we focus only on these 10 key issues, and choose 3 or 4 axes from them as priorities, a large part of the country’s problems will still be solved.

He continued: If we focus only on these important and urgent issues, that is, if we devote our time, financial resources and energy to priorities, we can correct the direction of the country’s movement. When we say how we do things is important, we mean that we must also correct the way we work, not just give slogans.

The Speaker of the Islamic Consultative Assembly, reviewing several indicators, stated: In the field of inflation and the consumer price index, the trend from the past to the present clearly shows that we have not gone the right way. In the Fifth Plan, consumer prices increased 2.7 times. In the Sixth Plan, this figure reached 7 to 8 times, and in October 1404, compared to the Sixth Plan, prices increased 13.7 times. If we want to continue the same wrong path of the past, we must know what misguidance we are going down. So we must make courageous and prudent decisions, decisions that are based on collective wisdom.

He continued, pointing out that in 1399, the country's liquidity volume was 3,000 trillion tomans (Hemat); he stated: But this year this figure has reached more than 11,000 Hemat. With this trend, if we move forward until the end of the plan, we will have a very worrying situation. We cannot continue with the current means and methods, but must move exactly in accordance with the Seventh Program and implement reforms.

The Speaker of the Islamic Consultative Assembly, pointing out that we currently have 19.5 percent of the world's oil and gas at our disposal, but despite this, we are experiencing gas cuts; stated: If we proceed in this manner, at the end of the program we will be forced to import $16 billion in oil products, and spend more than $10 to 12 billion on importing basic goods. This is not the right path.

Institutional and structural problems arose in the merger of the Ministry of Security with the Ministry of Commerce

Ghalibaf, pointing out that when I talk about structural problems, I mean the wrong decisions we have made over the past years; stated: For example, in the merger of the Ministry of Security with the Ministry of Commerce, institutional and structural problems arose. Look at these. One day our argument was that since the Ministry of Commerce is responsible for imports, domestic production will suffer, so we merged it with industry. But today we see that in this same ministry, there is no specific structure to control the market.

He added: The same thing happened in the merger of the Ministry of Jihad with the Ministry of Agriculture. While the Ministry of Jihad and Agriculture should be the Ministry of Production and Food Security, today its role is practically limited to the trade of basic goods. The result is that our domestic products, such as barley and wheat, are no longer able to compete with cheap imported corn and domestic production is being destroyed. Do we want to continue on this path?

The Speaker of the Islamic Consultative Assembly, pointing out that all these matters have been precisely and transparently determined in the Seventh Plan and it is clear what actions need to be taken, stated: I believe that the Seventh Plan is our greatest opportunity to turn these challenges into opportunities. As a servant, I would like to say that we have discussed this issue many times with ministers, commissions and the President himself, and we have all come to believe that the Seventh Plan can turn these challenges into opportunities; provided that we strive and make decisions.

The Speaker of the Islamic Consultative Assembly, pointing out that all these matters have been clearly and precisely determined in the Seventh Plan and it is clear what actions need to be taken, stated: I believe that the Seventh Plan is our greatest opportunity to turn these challenges into opportunities. As a servant, I would like to say that we have discussed this issue many times with ministers, commissions, and the President himself, and we have all come to believe that the Seventh Plan can turn these challenges into opportunities; provided that we make the effort and make decisions.

The Speaker of the Islamic Consultative Assembly, pointing out that Dr. Pezzekian has spoken to me about this issue many times; stated: Perhaps dozens of times. Even the night before last, we discussed the import of gasoline. In that meeting, which the doctor himself was present, I stated that we could take five specific actions that if we had done, we would not have had to import 14.5 million liters of gasoline per day today.

If we connected the fuel card to the banking network, there would be a lot of savings

He continued: For example, if we connected the fuel card to the banking network, there would be a lot of savings. If we managed LPG properly, the problem would be solved. If we had only implemented these programs as planned, this crisis would not exist today.

The Speaker of the Islamic Consultative Assembly noted: Currently, CNG consumption has decreased significantly compared to before, while it could have been an effective alternative to gasoline. If the same five or six program measures were implemented, we would have easily saved 14.5 million liters per day and there would be no need to request 2 to 2.5 billion dollars to import LPG. We have money, but we spend it badly.

I testify that the President and his team of experts have taken serious action to implement Article 46 of the Seventh Plan

He continued, pointing out that Article 46 of the Seventh Plan is very key in this regard, and stated: I testify that the President and his team of experts have taken serious action to implement it. Even during my trip to Semnan, I saw that the energy optimization pilot project is being implemented according to this article and some of the problems had been resolved.

He continued, pointing out that the bitter reality is that from February of last year until today, a large part of these projects have been stalled in the administrative system, and said: Whereas if Article 46 had been fully implemented, in addition to preventing losses in the electricity, water, and industry sectors, it would have added $50 to $60 billion in new capacity to the country. I have said many times that until reform in the energy sector does not occur, no economic reform in the country is meaningful.

The Speaker of the Islamic Consultative Assembly emphasized: But this does not mean increasing the price of gasoline. This thinking is wrong. There are other solutions, including the development of the optimization market and energy saving certificates that are currently being implemented in the energy exchange, but unfortunately, we have problems even in this market.

He added: "This winter, the price of gas on the exchange was traded at 12.5 thousand tomans per cubic meter, while in some parts of the country it is 5 thousand tomans, and at the same time, those who bought savings certificates were not given any gas when the gas was delivered. This means destroying the market that we want to develop."

He continued by emphasizing that in all the decisions we make, we must gain the people's satisfaction; he stated: "The first person to benefit from savings should be the one who has saved. People should benefit from these savings. For this reason, we have prioritized gas in the Seventh Plan, because 73 percent of the country's energy is supplied by gas, while gasoline has only a 9 percent share.

He continued by pointing out that we should move towards consumption and savings; he stated: By doing this, both the people will be saved from the blackout and the industry will benefit, and the government will benefit from the value added and taxes. I believe that our path is completely clear and the government and the parliament must move forward step by step in this direction to make the program possible. The conclusion of these two days of the meeting was a valuable experience for us.

Addressing the government ministers, Qalibaf stated: We must focus on several key issues that are the country's top priority; three very important and urgent issues, the first of which is the livelihood of the people, especially the implementation of the electronic inventory plan. The second is the reform of the energy structure, and the third is the advancement of the development drivers in Article 48.

In response to the government spokesman's statements regarding the food basket, the speaker of the parliament said: "In the area of ​​livelihood, one of our fundamental steps is the food basket debate, which I spoke to Mr. Midari just today. But they said I am not aware of. Unfortunately, last night, the government spokesman announced that the same old policy of the 500,000 and 350,000 toman basket of goods is going to be implemented again, which is the same wrong path as before. We have been trying for months to replace this method with the smart food basket to preserve people's purchasing power against inflation. You worked harder than anyone and provided financing.

He continued by pointing out that people's livelihood has three main axes: health, housing, and basic goods. In the health sector, there is a lot of money in circulation, but if we follow the policy of purchasing services instead of producing services, the costs will be spent properly.

The issue of energy is one of our fundamental issues that we must move forward with. The 10 main drivers of development in Article 48 must be pursued seriously. Among these drivers, two axes are the most important. One is the south-east and west corridors of the country, and the second is Iran's maritime connection to the Indian Ocean and the development of the Makran and Oman coasts. We must also pay attention to permanent laws that strengthen the program, such as the Investment System Financing Law, so that the country's major projects can come to fruition. God willing, these discussions will put us on the path to real progress for the country.