TEHRAN "My hands are tied, I cannot supervise the implementation of the Constitution," said President Khatami about his prerogatives as the chief executive last week and received strongest reactions from the Chief of Judiciary Ayatollah Shahroudi.

Khatami's statement was like a bomb and reactions that it receives were as strong as the statement itself.

Like many other issues, the statement found its repercussions in the polarized Iranian society.

The conservatives called it politically-motivated and a move to garner more votes in the upcoming presidential elections.

The reformists said, the president as the chief executive, must have more power to be able to implement the Constitution and fulfill his promises. For instance they said the closure of most of the newspapers was unconstitutional but the president could not stop it.

But the conservatives are not convinced with this sort of reasoning. For instance, Mohammadreza Bahonar, a conservative think tank, says: "The people cast their votes for the president within the framework of the present Constitution. Such comments are indeed attempts to justify the inefficiency of the government and are excuses to shirk its accountability."

A commentator of the TEHRAN TIMES said last week that "it is a measure in line with Khatami's election campaign."

The Judiciary Chief, Ayatollah Mahmoud Shahroudi said: "The protection of the Constitution is the duty of the Judiciary... The president had better take new, serious measures to implement those articles of the Constitution which have not been implemented."

Some analysts believe that the Constitution does not envisage any mechanism for its amendment. Since its promulgation, the Iranian Constitution was amended only once and that on the decree of Founder of the Islamic Republic, Grand Ayatollah Rouhollah Khomeini.

The conservatives argue that the road to any amendment is absolutely closed, while there is no unanimity among the reformists on the issue. Some radical elements among the reformists say that the Constitution can be amended through holding referendums, at the same time there are some moderate elements among them who say that there is no way for amending the Constitution.

For instance, a member of the Majlis Presiding Board, Mohammad Qomi says, "neither the Parliament has received any proposal for increasing the powers of the president nor can the MPs propose such a bill. If the powers of the president are to be increased or decreased, the Constitution must be amended; if we want to amend the Constitution, we have to hold referendum in this regard, otherwise the MPs cannot propose such a bill."

Even in the past, there was a tendency among certain circles to amend the Constitution to pave the way for former president Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani to run for the third term, but those efforts did not yield any fruit, for there were strong oppositions from various circles. The controversy came to an end when the Leader in one of his trips to Azarbaijan announced that the Constitution could not be amended for the said purpose.

The present controversy too seems to be politically motivated. The days to come will tell us how the reformists are serious about their proposal to amend the Constitution, while at the same time the conservatives too will demonstrate their strength to neutralize such a move. ,