Iran’s top conservative MPs oppose Ahmadinejad cabinet

Another top conservative,Mohammad Reza Bahonar,said he will “definitely not vote for a few nominees. “Some nominees of four or five ministries have an educational background which is contradictory to their portfolios,” Bahonar said as the debate raged in the chamber. Ahmadinejad,whose re-election triggered the worst crisis in the Islamic republic’s history,is under fire from his own hardline supporters over several political decisions he made soon after his disputed June 12 victory.

MPs are also furious at not being consulted over the cabinet,and he faces a daunting task in securing parliamentary approval for a line-up which includes many new faces,among them three women — a first in the Islamic republic.

The confidence vote comes as Iran is mired in political turmoil after Ahmadinejad’s victory triggered massive street protests which left at least 30 people dead and shook the very foundations of the Islamic regime. Ahmadinejad has retained five ministers in the same posts,including Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki.

Current defence minister Mostafa Mohammad Najjar has been nominated as interior minister,while commerce minister Masoud Mirkazemi is his pick for the crucial oil ministry in OPEC’s second largest exporter. However,Mirkazemi is expected to be rejected because of his lack of expertise in the sector,media reports said. He was also nearly impeached in 2007 and 2008 over rising prices of basic commodities.

The three female nominees are also expected to face an uphill battle.

“Islam respects women,but respecting women does not mean that heavy social positions be given to them,” hardline cleric Ahmad Khatami said yesterday. Sousan Keshvaraz,Marzieh Vahid Dastjerdi and Fatemeh Ajorlou have been proposed respectively as ministers of education,health,and welfare and social security. All three of them lack ministerial experience.

Tavakoli warned the new cabinet could divide Iranian society. “The nominee for the science ministry was the head of the election commission. From the point of view of protesters,he is the main accused over the recent bitter incidents,” he said of the post-election unrest. “This has the potential to divide society.”