Labor Minister of Rouhani's Government Receives Vote of Confidence Again

On Tuesday, March 12, Iranian parliament representatives opposed the impeachment of Ali Rabiei, the Minister of Cooperatives, Labor and Social Welfare, with 126 votes in favor, 124 against, two abstentions, and one invalid vote out of 253 present members. The parliament will also discuss the impeachment of Abbas Akhoundi, the Minister of Roads and Urban Development, in the afternoon session. Reasons cited by the impeachment proponents against Mr. Rabiei included 'bankruptcy of the Social Security Organization', 'lack of insurance for the plane of Aseman Airlines that crashed in February', 'neglect of employment', 'Sanchi oil tanker incident', and 'health transformation plan'. Some opposing representatives also accused the managers of the Ministry of Cooperatives, Labor and Social Welfare of offering economic incentives to representatives to withdraw from the impeachment. The appointment of close associates of some parliament members and political figures to the boards of companies under the Ministry of Cooperatives, Labor and Social Welfare was another issue raised by Mr. Rabiei's opponents. However, the Minister rejected the accusation of 'lobbying' for another vote from the parliament. He also stated that during his tenure, 'the net profit of Shasta increased from 26 trillion tomans to 33.5 trillion tomans'. Mr. Rabiei announced that 'many' of the companies under the Ministry of Cooperatives, Labor and Social Welfare are loss-making, with '34 loss-making companies' existing only in Tehran, but he has 'not only focused on profit' and has not laid off workers from these companies. The Social Security Investment Company, Shasta, which was one of the main topics discussed in Mr. Rabiei's impeachment session, is one of the largest investment institutions in Iran, operating in trade and production. Meanwhile, the Research Center of the Parliament had previously warned about the possibility of bankruptcy of the Social Security Organization in the next decade. In this context, Mr. Rabiei also stated on Thursday, February 21, that the government and parliament must make 'difficult' decisions regarding pension fund reforms, but 'society is not ready for it'. The impeachment of Mahmoud Hojjati, the Minister of Agriculture, is also on the agenda for the parliament session on Wednesday.