Sajjad Padam Left, Pension Funds Crisis Resolved

Sajjad Padam Left, Pension Fund Crisis Resolved

Sajjad Padam Left, Pension Fund Crisis Resolved. According to Iran Gate, the dismissal of Sajjad Padam, the Director General of Social Insurances at the Ministry of Welfare in the Thirteenth Government, has reignited discussions surrounding the super-crisis of pension funds. The Raisi government’s response to various crises has once again followed the same pattern as before, temporarily ending by ignoring the issue. But what is the fate of the bankruptcy file of pension funds, and where will it ultimately lead?

About a week ago, the Director General of Social Insurances at the Ministry of Welfare made a controversial statement that drew reactions from the public and experts. In the first part of this report, Iran Gate examined the roots of this issue and why the situation of pension funds became critical. However, in this part, the focus is on the type and manner of the Raisi government’s response to various crises.

Let’s Ignore the Issue

The pattern of Ebrahim Raisi’s government in dealing with crises and solving issues has mostly aligned with the method known as ignoring the issue. This behavior of the Thirteenth Government can be observed in the recent case of Sajjad Padam’s dismissal instead of addressing important matters like pension funds. The same method was exactly followed by Ebrahim Raisi’s government in the publication of inflation statistics and reports related to the housing market.

In managing exchange rates, the automobile market, and the housing market, we have also seen that Ebrahim Raisi and his appointed managers have tried to divert attention by ignoring the issue. However, it should be noted that some crises, like inflation or the bankruptcy of pension funds, cannot be resolved by ignoring the issue and won’t even be controllable in the short term.

The Greatest Threat Facing Iran

This approach is not only present among government officials, but members of the Eleventh Parliament have also followed the same managerial method of the Thirteenth Government, resulting in unscientific and unbalanced responses to the country’s problems and crises. A recent example of this approach is a tweet by Mostafa Mirsalim, a Tehran representative in the revolutionary Eleventh Parliament, accusing the people of ingratitude. He, accused of involvement in behind-the-scenes and mafia activities in the automotive industry, has repeatedly blamed the people as the main culprits of the country’s current problems.

In this tweet, Mirsalim writes that the greatest threats facing most people are ignorance, weak faith, and ingratitude. As mentioned, this approach is not limited to the government or parliament, but in the unified governance that has formed since 2021, this perspective can be clearly observed. However, in response to these players who are causing the destruction of the country’s social, political, and economic foundations, it must be said that the greatest threat facing the country is precisely this approach that these individuals have adopted.

An approach resulting from superficiality and the inability to deeply understand issues and topics that this same group has created and is now struggling to solve. This helplessness has led to blaming the people’s weak faith and ingratitude as the cause of the problems.

The Governance is Ill

Of course, it should be said that the dismissal of Sajjad Padam was the right action because he resorted to an example to warn about the explosive situation of pension funds, which not only should not have been used but is also a major national taboo. Therefore, his dismissal was the right action. But did Padam’s dismissal resolve the super-crisis of bankrupt pension funds?

It is clear that not only has this super-crisis not been resolved, but it is intensifying day by day and hour by hour because neither the factors creating this issue have been removed, nor have the shortcomings and inefficiencies been resolved. So, it can be understood that something is seriously wrong, and this management system will not be able to solve any issue or problem.

In fact, a governance that cannot deeply examine the country’s issues and problems, whether economic, social, or even political, is certainly forced to inject temporary solutions to hide the issue for a short time. In other words, the Islamic Republic’s governance has realized that it does not have the ability to solve problems fundamentally and has therefore decided to accept daily routines in the country’s management structure and inevitably turn a blind eye to its consequences. In such a situation, it is said that the governance is ill and, as the saying goes, is crippled and helpless in facing serious crises and issues.

A Lesson for the Future

The issue of Sajjad Padam’s dismissal and the bankruptcy of pension funds is just one of hundreds of cases that indicate the inefficiency and inability of the Islamic Republic’s governance in problem-solving. But the issue is that the rise of Ebrahim Raisi’s government, which has unified the governance in one voice, has not only failed to eliminate a problem but has added to the element of inefficiency and helplessness in this system. This is the most important lesson that can be learned from the case known as Padam and the pension funds, a lesson that may be useful for the people and, by chance, the Islamic Republic’s governance in the near future.