The limitations of the Iran President's powers (Essay Sample)

THE LIMITATIONS OF THE IRAN'S PRESIDENT POWERS
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The limitations of the iran's president powers
President Hassan Rouhani has been the president of Iran since 2013. However, it took massive effort to convince the people of Iran to clinch that electoral position. This is because Iran has been a war-torn country and the people needed cogent and honest agendas to cast their votes. It is evident that the promises that Rouhani made stand as a big test in fulfilling them. Thus, the presidency has a myriad of challenges in its powers because of the country's state of affairs (Davis & Pfaltzgraff, 2013, p.12).
Firstly, the economy of Iran is dreadfully poor because of the imposition of international sanctions. These sanctions are as a result of Iran's refusal to ban the Uranium enrichment program. The Western governments fear that this program is a pathway to the manufacturing of nuclear weapons, which is an ingredient for destruction in case of war breakouts. The sanctions have adversely affected Iran's economy since it cannot conduct business with international countries (Blake, 2009, p.17). The economy is still grappling with deterioration occasioned by the fall of Iran's currency value. The currency has lost is value by as much as half. This imposes serious challenges to the presidency since these are sensitive issues that need wise interventions to salvage the country from the poor economic times. Recently, in July 2013 some steelworkers went to protest outside the parliament and let an outcry against unpaid salaries and unfair retrenchment (Rieffer-flanagan, 2013, p.28).
Secondly, Iran suffers huge debts that pose major challenges to the country's growth of Gross Domestic Product (GDP). Iran is in heavy debt since its only economic pillar, which is oil, is at stake in terms of international business. Crude oil exports were reduced by approximately 40% in 2012 to a mere 1.5 million barrels per day. This greatly affects the country since it is still struggling to rekindle the oil exportations as before. Moreover, a July 2013 report revealed that Iran owes the World Bank a hefty amount of money after defaulting to pay a loan amounting to $79 million for at least six months. Due to this problem, Iran has been disqualified to get new funding and also putting the country in a bad position to get money from other creditors (Price, 2005, p.33).
Thirdly, the president of Iran does not have the final say in virtually everything in the government. This is because Iran has a hybrid political system, meaning that a cleric is the executive who makes ultimate decisions. Thus, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who is the Iran's Supreme Leader, has the mandate almost akin to veto power over everything that happens in the government. This means that the Supreme Leader has say in the appointment of the cabinet ministers, political strategies and even the foreign policy. This poses as a great challenge to the president since there is always a possibility of contradiction of decisions and policies. It means that at times, the president of Iran will have to abide by the decisions of the Supreme Leader even if they are not of benefit to the people of Iran (Hower et. al., 2011, p.27).
Lastly, President Hassan Rouhani faces resistance in the Iran's unicameral parliament also called the Majlis. The parliament comprises of conserv...