Government to Present Bills for 'Separation of Three Ministries' to Parliament

The government of Hassan Rouhani will send bills for the separation of three ministries to Parliament this week, hoping to reactivate the ministries of Housing, Commerce, and the National Youth Organization at the beginning of the twelfth government. According to the state news agency IRNA, on Sunday, June 14, quoting Hossein Ali Amiri, the parliamentary deputy of the President, if approved by Parliament, the government intends to split the Ministry of Roads and Urban Development into two ministries: 'Road and Transportation' and 'Housing and Urban Development.' A similar decision has been proposed for the Ministry of 'Industry, Mine and Trade,' which will also be divided into two ministries: 'Industry and Mine' and 'Commerce' based on a bill presented to Parliament. Mr. Amiri stated that the government also plans to separate the 'National Youth Organization' from the Ministry of 'Sports and Youth.' The parliamentary deputy of Hassan Rouhani expressed hope that the bills for the separation of these ministries would be reviewed and approved 'urgently' in the Islamic Consultative Assembly, 'so that the President can form the twelfth cabinet based on this structure.' According to Khabar Online, prior to Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's second government, the ministries of Housing and Commerce operated independently, and the National Youth Organization was part of the President's deputy offices. However, Ahmadinejad's government merged several ministries to reduce the size of the government under the Fifth Development Plan, thus merging the Ministry of Housing into the Ministry of Roads and the Ministry of Commerce into the Ministry of Industry and Mine. The method of merging some ministries was one of Ahmadinejad's most controversial actions, and even during the merger of the Ministry of Communications into the Ministry of Roads and Urban Development, Parliament passed a plan to limit the government's ability to merge ministries. Thus, despite Ahmadinejad's success in merging the ministries of Cooperatives and Labor, and the ministries of Commerce and Industry and Mine, he could not implement his plan to merge the two ministries of Oil and Power, as well as the two ministries of Communications and Roads and Urban Development. At that time, the government's argument was that according to the Fifth Development Plan, it was obligated to reduce the number of ministries from 21 to 17 and argued that it did not need Parliament's approval to implement this law. Supporters of merging ministries cited the obligation to implement Article 53 of the Fifth Development Plan, reducing costs and increasing efficiency, eliminating redundancy in ministries, and downsizing the government as reasons. In contrast, opponents cited haste and superficial handling of the mergers, ignoring a letter from 200 representatives to postpone the mergers, and a lack of opportunity for expert opinions as their reasons for opposition. The eleventh cabinet consists of 18 ministries, and it is unclear how Parliament will respond to the government's bills for the separation of ministries, which would increase their number to 20, considering the Fifth Development Plan.