Ahmadinejad Threatens Majlis

Hamid Ahadi, Rooz Online:

On the last days of the Majlis (Iran's Parliament) deadline for the president to present it the four remaining cabinet nominations, president Ahmadinejad introduced four names last week. But the names have created a controversy. Reports acknowledge that the president seems not only disinterested in what the Majlis may decide, but has even gone as far as saying that if the legislature refuses to confirm his nominees, he would “place the Majlis in front of the public”, meaning he would hold it publicly responsible for the absent ministers. “People must show their support for the government against the power and wealth mafia residing in the Parliament,” he has said. READ MORE

These words are expressed at a time when Ahmadinejad reappointed his four rejected cabinet nominees to other senior positions that did not require Majlis approval, and when other high ranking political officials have been unhappy with his recent performance, both at home and abroad. Interestingly, the president continues to portray himself as the most popular politician of the country.

This new round of confrontation, now with the Majlis, is taking place while the president’s portrait is displayed at every demonstration in front of Tehran’s foreign embassies and, in the words of political observers, while the president is engaged in showmanship, rather than attending to real issues of the country and the people.

The four new nominees for the cabinet posts are all unknown faces and so the Majlis has been spending time to investigate their background, and its members have expressed their dismay as to why individuals who have no record of senior government posts are presented for the highest executive positions. These ministries carry weight and they are those of oil, education, social welfare, and cooperatives. The names that have been presented are Sadegh Mahsuli, Parviz Kazemi, Mohammad Nazemi, and Mahmud Farshidi.

The biggest surprise is the candidate for the oil ministry. Sadegh Mahsuli is even less known and has less experience than the previous nominees who was rejected just over two months ago. Mahmud Farshidi, a former conservative newspaper Resalat writer, has been nominated for the Ministry of Education. Observers have said that he is being launched by Mohammad Reza Bahnonar, to please right-wing circles, while other members of this faction are baffled by the move. One Majlis deputy told Rooz, on condition of anonymity, that the president seems to be moving in the direction of discrediting the Majlis in the eyes of the public. This source speculated that perhaps the president is doing this so he can later go public and announce that cooperation with the legislature is no longer possible.

Another Majlis deputy from the minority faction told Rooz that the president is trying to implement the agenda of the reformers, known as “pressure from below, and negotiations from above”, which was initially announced by Saeed Hajjarian, a minister in former president Khatami’s cabinet. He adds that by mobilizing part of the population with his fiery speeches and promises, the president intends to carry out his agenda through public pressure.

While the investigation into the backgrounds of the new cabinet nominees is still in its early stages, a number of Majlis deputies have already said that the individuals lack the necessary experience or the necessary political astuteness to run their respective agencies. They point out that while the president had three months to reintroduce new nominees, he chose to do this at the last minute, thus depriving the Parliament of the necessary time to do its background checks before voting on the nominees. The Majlis needs to vote on the nominees by next Wednesday.

Sadegh Mahsuli, the president’s choice for the ministry of oil, which is considered the key ministry, along with that of the economy, is of the same age as the president himself, who has been the president’s colleague in the past. Previously he had worked with Reconstruction Jahad and was a governor of Orumie town – his birth-place – and had been a deputy governor general of West Azarbaijan province. He was also the head of the Passdaran Revolutionary Guards Corps for the fifth district (i.e. East and West Azarbaijan). His other postings include a stint at the Ministry of Defense. He is said to be friends with Mohsen Rezai, the former Passdaran Revolutionary Guards Corps commander who took him to the State Expediency Council. When the nominee for the Ministry of Oil was introduced, a Majlis deputy inquired about him at the ministry and to his dismay found out that nobody knew of him. Kamal Daneshyar, the chairman of the Energy Committee of the Majlis, said after the president presented his nominees “had the president nominated better known individuals, their approval would have been much smoother.” “Under the present circumstances, no body knows what will be the result of the new nominees.”

The Speaker of the Majlis had asked the deputies last month not to make public comments about presidential nominees until a decision had been made on them. But Daneshyar could not resist expressing his displeasure at the president. He added that the Committee had received some 17 nominations for the post, but the president’s choice was not among them.

In addition to Mahsuli, Majlis representatives believe that Mahmud Farshidi too has been presented to be rejected by the legislature. By presenting a newspaper writer to head the Ministry of Education, where the Speaker had himself spent 14 years of his professional life, was perhaps an indication of the respect he had for the Ministry. He has presented as a chemical engineer from the University of Shiraz. He headed the Department of Education in East Azarbaijan and Kerman, and had also served at the National Radio and Television Network. One of the Majlis deputies complained that the Department of Education had seen some eleven Ministers and some 43 deputies, most of whom were from the right-wing circles who comprised a good pool to choose the new minister from, which Ahmadinejad has chosen to ignore.

Ali Abbaspour Tehranifard, the chairman of the Education and Research Committee of the Majlis also stressed the fact that Farshidi had been an unknown individual in education circles. “While the Majlis wishes success for the president, this does not mean that it will approve anybody who is presented to it at this level,” he said. He added that the Ministry of Education needed someone who could take the helms of an agency that faces many challenges.

Mohammad Nazemi Ardakani, nominated for the Ministry of Cooperatives, is currently a student in systems engineering, is a known face in revolutionary circles. He has been the representative of the Army’s Revolutionary courts in the Western part of Iran, worked at the Telecommunications Organization, been an inspector at the Ministry of Industries, was a deputy of the Housing Foundation, and has held other positions in ad-hoc ministerial committees.

The nominee for the Ministry of Welfare is a graduate of industrial management from Tehran University. His record places him in the Passdaran Revolutionary Guards Corps, Intelligence agencies, Mostazafan Foundation, and some government companies. Those who know him from Iran Khodro automobile manufacturing plant speak of his harsh and aggressive personality who spoke little and was close to intelligence and security circles, but never made any outstanding contributions in his performance.

Gheysar Salehi who is a Majlis deputy from the majority faction (right wing leanings) openly criticizes the president for his choice of ministers and governors. “During the elections, I voted for him vs. Hashemi Rafsanjani, but today I see how his nominees all come from Passdaran or the municipality backgrounds or are from among friends of Majlis deputy Bahonar,” he said.

It is reported that some Majlis deputies had asked that the higher officials of the Islamic Republic inform them of the course they should take vis-à-vis the nominees. But in the absence of such guidance, they are at a loss as to why these nominations are made and what are they to do with them.