Teaching Comparative Government and Politics

Wednesday, June 29, 2016

Who gets the profits?

Citizen anger about government is not restricted to the UK and China. It's also popping up in Iran, when reporters are able to see it.

My reminder here is that about 20% of the non-oil Iranian economy is owned and controlled by bonyads (those "charitable" foundations formed from the assets of opponents of the Islamic revolution and run by clerics).

Iranians are angry about big bonuses paid to bureaucrats

[T]he payslips of several employees were leaked online and published by several media outlets.

They showed not just inflated salaries, but what appear to be bonuses, interest-free loans and significant overtime payments. In one instance, a bank manager at a state bank was shown to have received £50,000 in one month.

By contrast, other public servants - including those who identified themselves as teachers, nurses and journalists - have published monthly payslips showing some of them are paid much more modest salaries of £300 a month or less…

But what started as a conservative issue has now become a much broader protest on the Iranian internet, with the public blaming both conservatives and reformists for it…

Some Iranian Twitter users also debated the issue tongue-in-cheek.

One tweeted an infographic featuring the monthly income of several world leaders with the following quip: "Obama has sent over his resume and is seeking employment with a bank in Iran, once his presidency ends."…

Iran's Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has called on the government to "decisively" tackle the issue. President Rouhani has said he will take "firm action" against the payment of large bonuses.

Quick make this scandal go away

Iran sacks bank chiefs amid uproar over high salaries

The chief executives of four public banks in Iran have been sacked amid widespread criticism of their salaries, the state-run Irna news agency reports.

An official was quoted as saying the economy minister had replaced the heads of Mehr Iran, Mellat, Refah and Saderat at President Hassan Rouhani's request…

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