Illegal and "unlawful" use of second pay slip by MPs

Mohammad Javad Jamali Nobandegani, a member of the 10th Parliament, says that some members of the 11th Parliament use free government cars and facilities "under pressure," while receiving separate amounts in their second pay slip to pay for such expenses.

Mr. Jamali Nobandegani, who was the spokesperson for the oversight board in the previous parliament, said in an interview with the Young Journalists Club on Wednesday, September 25, that such expenses are related to the representatives' second pay slip.

According to this former member of parliament, the second salary slip of representatives "includes office expenses, water and electricity expenses, car rental, gasoline consumption, personnel, catering, items and stationery, and advertising, and it is mentioned on the same slip."

This is despite the fact that, according to Mr. Jamali, in addition to receiving cars from the governorates, "they even obtained places by putting pressure on government departments or universities so that they would not have to pay rent."

According to the former MP's explanation, "The car rental fee is for using it in Tehran, and the same office expenses are used for the city car."

According to Mr. Jamali Nobandegani's explanation, it seems that cash is deposited into the representatives' accounts for car and office expenses in their constituencies, but instead of spending it on the aforementioned matters, some representatives apply pressure from their representative position to government institutions and centers to receive free cars and space for their representative offices.

According to this member of the Tenth Parliament's oversight board, receiving government facilities hinders "supervision" of government institutions, while the non-executive use of government facilities in the legislative branch is "legally objectionable."

The publication of the details of the second salary slip comes at a time when the initial salary of parliamentarians, which was announced as six million tomans until 2017, has now reached 11 million tomans per month.

Earlier, in mid-July of this year, Hossein Jalali, a representative from Rafsanjan and Anar in the parliament, also announced that 231 million tomans had been deposited into his account in the first month of his presence in the parliament.

Mr. Jalali explained that of this amount, 11 million tomans is for representation fees, 200 million tomans for housing fees, and 20 million tomans for "other expenses."

The publication of this news at the time was met with widespread, often negative, reaction on social media, and a large number of users compared the representatives' incomes, as well as their "special privileges and rents in economic activities," with the living conditions of the general public.

Source: Radio Farda