TEHRAN – Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad will face a tough battle to win parliament’s approval for his new cabinet after deputies signalled they were likely to reject several proposed ministers.
“Those nominated by the president for government posts must have sufficient expertise and experience, otherwise a great deal of the country’s energy would be wasted,” state broadcaster IRIB quoted parliament speaker Ali Larijani as saying yesterday.
Vice-speaker Mohammad Reza Bahonar, a pragmatic conservative who has been critical of Mr Ahmadinejad in the past, suggested up to five members of the 21-strong cabinet risked being voted down by parliament.
The outcome will be a test of how secure Mr Ahmadinejad’s grip is on power after his disputed re-election in June led to the worst unrest since the 1979 Islamic Revolution and exposed divisions within the ruling elite. At least 26 people were killed in street protests. The nominated ministers include commerce minister Massoud Mirkazemi as the new oil minister, a key position as crude sales account for most state revenue.
Mr Mirkazemi is seen as an Ahmadinejad ally, but has little known oil industry experience.
Several nominees – Mr Mirkazemi and the intelligence and interior ministers – have a background with the elite Revolutionary Guards, as does Mr Ahmadinejad. Seen as fiercely loyal to the Islamic Republic’s values, the force’s influence appears to have grown since he came to power four years ago.
London-based analyst Gala Riani, of IHS Global Insight, said Mr Ahmadinejad had put forward a cabinet that “largely consists of loyalists with a security background”, and that his legitimacy would be damaged if some of them were refused by parliament.
The legislature is dominated by conservatives, but some of Mr Ahmadinejad’s supporters have abandoned him after the election. – (Reuters)