Iran: Majlis to decide fate of 3 more ministers...and cabinet

by rahul | December 3, 2008 at 10:21 am

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As Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad defends his plans to boost the economy, the Majlis(Parliament) prepares to study the possible impeachment of three more ministers. This time, the Ministers of Health, Education and Agriculture would be subject to scrutiny by Iranian MPs for their alleged inefficiency. On Saturday, two ministers would defend their managerial credentials and performance. But if they fail, impeachments would surely ensued. This could decide the fate of the whole Ahmadinejad´s cabinet. "Iran's Constitution requires the president to seek a vote of confidence for his entire cabinet if more than half of the 21 total ministers (11) are replaced." Just one more impeachment is needed to initiate the vote of confidence. Thus, this political move and the timing of the scrutiny could be interpreted as a negotiation tactics to force Ahamdinejad modify some of his planned economy policies. It could also mean the election time has come a little bit too soon for the Ahmadinejad´s administration.

Iran's Majlis has reportedly received a new impeachment motion amid discussions regarding whether to impeach two other cabinet ministers. The impeachment case against the Iranian Minister of Health Kamran Baqeri-Lankarani has been signed by 44 parliament members, said Khash city representative Hamid-Reza Pashang on Wednesday. Under the Iranian law, an impeachment motion needs a minimum of ten signatures in order to be placed on the Majlis agenda. The Iranian lawmakers have reportedly called for the impeachment of the health minister on the grounds of incompetence. The report comes as the Iranian parliament Speaker Ali Larijani said earlier that Majlis is set to hold a special session to study the impeachment case of the country's Education Minister Alireza Ali-Ahmadi and Minister of Agriculture Mohammad-Reza Eskandari on Saturday. Ali-Ahmadi has been accused of ignoring teachers' financial woes, and failing to pay school budgets and teachers' retirement bonuses in full, causing widespread dissatisfaction among the ministry's employees. In the case against the agriculture minister, a failure to deliver on his promises and the expulsion of experienced managers in the ministry are among the reasons cited in the motion filed against Eskandari. The Saturday meeting between the two ministers and Iranian lawmakers is intended to offer Eskandari and Ali-Ahmadi an opportunity to plead their cases and avoid impeachment. "If the issues brought up against the two ministers prove unresolvable, then the lawmakers will have every right to impeach these ministers," Larijani said. The report of the new impeachment motions comes after Majlis dismissed former interior minister Ali Kordan for his forged Oxford University Ph.D degree - President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad cabinet's 10th replaced minister. Iran's Constitution requires the president to seek a vote of confidence for his entire cabinet if more than half of the 21 total ministers (11) are replaced. Amid the controversy surrounding the Iranian Parliament's recent moves to impeach the country's ministers, Larijani has said that "measures such as impeachment do not signal a clash with government." CS/HGH. Original source at PressTV