TEHRAN Ayatollah Mohammad Yazdi, the former Judiciary chief and a member of the Guardian Council of the Constitution said last week that during his term the Judiciary, according to the Constitution, assessed the wealth of the ministers and top officials before and after assuming office and no violation was observed.
Some top officials joined the government riding a moped and left in a Mercedes. Others used to live in downtown Tehran, now they live in palaces costing more than tens of billions of rials while the base salary of government employees is about 500,000 rials.
The issue of windfall wealth is so commonly known that at almost all Majlis sessions held to consider the credentials of nominated ministers, the MPs raised the issue.
Almost all inhabitants of Tehran know that some cabinet members of former president Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani live in Niavaran, Pasdaran and other northern neighborhoods while all used to raise slogans on the disinherited and the downtrodden.
Moreover, in the name of privatization, a number of public factories were auctioned during Rafsanjani's term and given to those who were associated with pockets of power.
Why, after all, should one take office if it is not to trade in a moped for a palace and a Mercedes while the rest of the country drowns in inflation and unemployment? This is called justice', the eradication of poverty', and helping the oppressed'.