Iranian parliament approves final three cabinet posts

Iran's state-run media reports that the country's parliament has approved President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's nominees for the final three posts in his 21-member cabinet.

They are: Hamid Reza Hajibabai for education minister; former interior minister Sadeq Mahsouli for welfare minister and Majid Namjou, a former deputy energy minister for the energy portfolio.

Parliament approved 18 members of the new Ahmadinejad cabinet on Sept. 3. They included the country's woman minister Marzieh Vahid-Dastjerdi, a doctor who holds the health portfolio.

At the time parliament rejected the nominations for education, welfare and energy ministers on the grounds that they were unqualified.

Ahmadinejad has come in for bold criticism over his cabinet choices — most of which have military backgrounds or are somehow related to the military.

One vocal critic, Mohammad Reza Bahonar, the spokesman of the conservative party in the Majlis, or parliament, said in a recent interview with the Khabar newspaper that he had "advised the president to chose his cabinet members carefully, not like what he did in the previous term.”  He went on to say: “Changing cabinet members for 20 times is not something to be proud of,” he added, referring to the multiple changes Ahmadinejad previously made for cabinet members.

His initial candidates were rejected by the Majlis in September. Three days after the rejection, Ahmadinejad introduced three more candidates: One of them, Fatmeh Oliya — already a member of the parliament — refused the offer.

Another appointment that received much media attention in the country was that of Esfandiyar Rahim Mashayi, Ahmadinejad’s brother-in-law, given the post of First Vice President. Several of his statements, such as “the Iranians are friends with Israel” and “God isn’t the axis for unity,” caused such controversy that the Supreme Leader forced him to step down.

http://www.globalpost.com/notebook/general/091115/iranian-cabinet-approved