Some MPs were surprised by changes in president's proposed list

IRNA:

Aug 15, 2005

Though members of the seventh Majlis examined the list of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's proposed ministers here on Sunday afternoon, upon hearing the final names of cabinet members in this morning's session, a number of them were astonished.

According to some of the fundamentalist MPs, members of the central council of the faction had assessed the list submitted to them unofficially Saturday afternoon and had put it to vote.

Head of Majlis Cultural Commission Emad Afrough said that 90 percent of yesterday's list is similar to that presented to Majlis by the president. Afrough did not clarify the way it had been availed to the Central Council of the Fundamentalists Faction.

FIVE PROPOSED MINISTERS NOT TO GAIN VOTES MP from Lamerd Mohammad-Ali Hayati told IRNA that it has been heard that during Saturday's voting, some of the proposed ministers failed to gain the required vote.

He added that he does not know the relevant names and that is only aware that the proposed minister of energy, Parviz Fattah, is one of them.

In response to a question raised by a reporter, the member of the faction, Mohammad-Reza Mir-Tajeddin, refrained from disclosing the names of the rejected ministers and said that not everything is to be revealed.

However, an informed source told IRNA that the proposed minister of interior, Mostafa Pour-Mohammadi, minister of energy, Parviz Fattah, minister of commerce, Seyed Mohammad Mir-Kazemi, minister of welfare and social security, Seyed Mehdi Hashemi, and minister of education, Ali-Akbar Ash'ari, had gained the majority votes at yesterday's meeting.

Turning to yesterday's meeting as a consultation session, Mir-Tajeddin said that minor changes were effected in the president's proposed list on Saturday.

An MP reluctant to be identified said, "Up to this morning, MP from Kermanshah province, Abdol-Reza Messri was expected to be introduced as cooperatives minister. However, he was replaced by another individual." Besides, MP from Malayer predicted that among the proposed list, at least 7-8 ministers would fail to gain vote of confidence from the 7th Majlis.

He added that their disqualification accounts for such a rejection.

In contrast, head of Majlis Energy Commission, Kamal Daneshyar, believes that the seventh Majlis will give its vote of confidence to Ahmadinejad's first proposed cabinet according to the normal procedure applied to the first governments proposed to former parliaments.

MPS CRITICIZE PROPOSED ECONOMIC TEAM

The greatest criticism raised by members of parliament on the proposed ministers concerned their working background and experience, while the economic team on the list caused the greatest objection.

Another member of the faction and a member of Majlis Energy Commission, Elias Naderan, said that some MPs displayed harsh reactions upon hearing the names of some of the proposed ministers.

As a critic of the oil policies of former governments, he referred to the name of the proposed oil minister, Ali Sa'idlu, and said, "Though a number of MPs are against him, we would just have to wait for the outcome of the MPs' final voting.

Another member of Majlis Energy Commission, Mohsen Yahyavi said that Sa'idlu has no work experience in the oil sector. That's why he refrained from expressing his view on Sa'idlu.

Meanwhile, Daneshyar said that he too does not know anything about Sa'idlu. Another member of Majlis Fundamentalist Faction, reluctant to disclose his name, told reporters that the revolution pledged by President Ahmadinejad to take place in the Ministry of Oil would not be materialized by his proposed list.

Pointing to the suggested commerce minister as an unfamiliar individual, he noted that despite being involved in the sector for many years, he does not know anything about the candidate.

Another MP, who is a member of Majlis Industries and Mines Commission, said that the proposed industries and mines minister was a project manager in the sector and put the maximum budget availed to him for the relevant project at 40 million rials.

Then he proceeded to raise the question: "Now, how is he expected to administer such a critical ministry?"

Concerning the final cabinet, a prominent economic figure at the seventh Majlis, Mohammad Khosh-Chehreh, said that the proposed list could have been much better than the present one.

The proposed candidate for the minister of education, as compared to the ones proposed for the ministries not involved in economic affairs, raised the greatest objection.

A great number of MPs interviewed by reporters outside Majlis expressed their dissatisfaction with hearing the name of Ash'ari as the proposed education minister.

MP from Bushehr, Shokrollah Attarzadeh expressed such an objection more clearly.

"A lot of Majlis deputies were taken aback by hearing Ash'ari's name, given that he has been on pension for several years. Besides, he has never been working in the field and has no information in educational matters," he added.

He noted that introduction of Ash'ari as the proposed education minister proves that no attention has either been paid to Majlis views in this respect, nor to that of the officials involved in education.

According to him, there are individuals in the sector who are more familiar with the current educational problems and can analyze them much better.

It seems that the major reason for the seventh Majlis representatives' objection to the proposed ministers is that they do not know anything about some of the suggested names.

In response to the questions raised by reporters, a number of MPs said that any comments on the issue requires further study of the working background and their suggested plans.

Majlis specialized commissions started assessing the working experience and background of Ahmadinejad's proposed ministers as of this afternoon.

It is said that this will reduce considerably the number of objections raised in Majlis.

Meanwhile, it has been heard that the chief executive intends to sign a one-year agreement with every one of his cabinet members, which is expected to reduce the current concerns and worries on the performance of some of them.

"Every minister will ink a one-year agreement with the president.

Once at the end of the one-year term, the objectives set by Ahmadinejad in the relevant ministry are materialized, the minister will be reappointed. Otherwise he would have to be replaced," concluded Daneshyar.