Parliament Grants Confidence to 16 of Rouhani's Proposed Ministers; Bitaraf Fails to Gain Approval

Members of the Islamic Consultative Assembly granted confidence to 16 out of 17 proposed ministers by Hassan Rouhani. During the session on Sunday, August 20, they did not approve Habibollah Bitaraf, the proposed Minister of Energy, who only received 132 votes in favor. Meanwhile, the proposed Minister of Science has not yet been introduced to the parliament. According to reports, the Minister of Defense received the highest number of votes with 261. Among the 288 representatives present, the Minister of Education received 238 votes, the Minister of Communications and Information Technology 152 votes, the Minister of Intelligence 252 votes, the Minister of Economy 240 votes, and the Minister of Foreign Affairs 236 votes, all securing their positions in the twelfth government. Additionally, the Minister of Health received 253 votes, the Minister of Cooperatives, Labor, and Social Welfare 191 votes, the Minister of Agriculture 164 votes, the Minister of Justice 244 votes, and the Minister of Defense 261 votes. The parliament also voted 188 votes for the proposed Minister of Roads and Urban Development, 241 votes for the Minister of Industry, Mining, and Trade, 242 votes for the proposed Minister of Culture and Islamic Guidance, 250 votes for the Minister of Interior, 225 votes for the Minister of Sports and Youth, and 230 votes for the Minister of Oil. The confidence votes for Rouhani's proposed ministers began last Tuesday and concluded today. Morteza Kazemian, a journalist and political analyst residing in Paris, stated in an interview with Radio Farda that the parliament's votes today were a continuation of the trend observed in previous days, adding, "Nothing unexpected happened, and from the weak and unqualified criticisms and approvals, it was clear that almost all ministers would be approved. Unfortunately, this prediction came true." He believes that not only the parliament as a whole but also the Hope Fraction appeared disappointing; a faction that should represent and pursue the demands of the majority of citizens seeking reforms and change. Kazemian further notes, "There are many strange cases in the final votes for the proposed ministers; one surprising case is the votes for Soltani Far, the proposed Minister of Sports and Youth; he became a minister with 225 votes in favor, while 39 representatives opposed him, and there were also 24 abstentions and invalid votes; it is strange that none of these 63 representatives even had the patience or motivation to speak against him from the podium of the parliament." This journalist and political analyst describes the 250 votes given to Rahmani Fazli, the proposed Minister of Interior, as "very meaningful," stating, "The Hope Fraction acted completely in line with the moderate conservatives and principlists and Ali Larijani. This is while serious criticisms regarding the failure to uphold the fundamental and civil rights of the people have been directed at the Minister of Interior and his record over the past four years." He also considers the continuation of Ali Rabiei's ministry as Minister of Labor and the selection of proposed candidates for Culture and Islamic Guidance, Communications, and Education, who have significant criticisms and questions regarding their records and programs, to be very meaningful and describes it as bitter for civil society activists. Morteza Kazemian points out that the high votes for the Minister of Defense and Minister of Intelligence were predictable due to presumed coordination with the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic, regarding the negative vote of the parliament for Habibollah Bitaraf, he believes: "It seems that the determination of the principlists and opponents of reforms was serious, and the Hope Fraction could not align the moderates in the parliament with itself and behind Bitaraf. The outcome of this is another negative mark in the record of the reformist faction in the parliament." Meanwhile, Mehdi Fattapour, an official of the Iranian Republican Union residing in Germany, in an interview with Radio Farda, considers the twelfth government to be a continuation of Hassan Rouhani's previous government, which was a moderate government with a conservative tilt. He points out that the proposed ministers in the economic field are expected to change the government's new economic policy from an anti-inflation policy to an anti-recession policy, which would be a significant shift in the government's economic policy. Fattapour adds that the expectations of a large portion of voters for Hassan Rouhani in the 2017 presidential elections regarding noticeable changes in the cultural and social sectors of the government were not met, stating: "Serious criticisms were directed at the Minister of Communications and Information Technology, which were ignored." Evaluating the confidence votes given to the proposed ministers of the country and communications, he says that it seems a significant portion of the Hope Fraction voted for them. This political activist further describes the performance of the Hope Fraction as weak, adding: "The voting showed that a large number of members of the Hope Fraction are moving in the line of moderation and issues like cultural and political openness are not on the agenda for the reformists." Rouhani: Some Bend to America to Prevent the JCPOA from Succeeding Hassan Rouhani, the President of Iran, defended his proposed ministers on Sunday before the parliament's confidence vote. In defense of the performance of Mohammad Javad Zarif, Iran's Foreign Minister, he stated that some political currents "bend to America and push to prevent the JCPOA from succeeding." He added, "We must say that America does not want this much help and has enough help; it is better to help your own nation." Despite the approval of the Vienna nuclear agreement by the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic, he and his close associates continue to criticize this agreement. The President of Iran also stated that last year, the government allocated 40 trillion tomans to pension funds, while the total budget of Iran is 300 trillion tomans. Previously, reports about the bankruptcy of some pension funds in Iran had been published. In this regard, the Research Center of the Parliament announced last year in a report that "if the current trend of retirement continues in Iran, the number of people who will be eligible for pensions and retirement benefits in the next seven years will reach seven million and 135 thousand, which will undoubtedly pose a crisis for the pension funds of the country and armed forces and social security." In his speech, Rouhani also urged the parliament to vote for all the proposed ministers so that the twelfth government could start its work more quickly. He also stated that the twelfth government goes beyond reformist and principlist currents, but in this government, the principle is to adhere to principles, reform, and moderation together. Rouhani also referred to the government's actions regarding increasing oil production and car production. In his remarks, he asked the proposed ministers to observe citizens' rights, transparency, fight against corruption, environmental issues, employment for women and youth, and the inclusion of ethnic and religious minorities. These statements were made in a context where the performance of his eleventh government over the past four years had been criticized in the same areas. Rouhani had previously stated on August 15 that he intended to introduce three female ministers in his government and had specified their positions, but ultimately, this did not happen. He did not provide further explanation on this matter. The failure to introduce a female minister despite numerous requests, including a request from 175 members of parliament, has led to criticisms from some political and civil activists. Criticisms have also been directed at Hassan Rouhani for not introducing a minister from the Sunni community. In this regard, Hasal Daseh, a Kurdish political activist and former member of parliament, reported without naming names that "some Shia clerics have contacted Hassan Rouhani and some reformist leaders, requesting that a Sunni minister not be introduced." Rouhani: We Should Not Sacrifice Freedom to Achieve Security Hassan Rouhani also defended the proposed Minister of Communications and Information Technology, stating that we should not "sacrifice freedom to achieve security." He added, "Security rests on national awareness; our security is not just with guns, as much as we need weapons, we are pursuing them and will continue to do so." He stated that Mohammad Javad Azari Jahromi, the proposed Minister of Communications and Information Technology, always viewed "security and freedom together." Regarding the Ministry of Intelligence, he said: "I want a Minister of Intelligence whom the people do not fear from his name, but rather the traitors fear him." Mohammad Javad Azari Jahromi, Rouhani's proposed candidate for the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology, has previously been one of the managers in the Ministry of Intelligence. Earlier, a special assistant to the Minister of Intelligence, whose name was not mentioned by Iranian media, described Mohammad Javad Azari Jahromi as one of the "renowned, honest, and law-abiding managers" of this ministry and introduced the "actions of hostile and opportunistic media" as aimed at "discrediting the dedicated forces" of the Islamic Republic. Previously, the International Campaign for Human Rights reported on August 14 that Mohammad Javad Azari Jahromi had "responsibilities in the areas of eavesdropping and surveillance" and had been responsible for the "technical interrogation" of some political prisoners. According to this report, he, along with "a team of agents from the Ministry of Intelligence," was present during the arrest of "at least five members of the Qeytarieh Campaign (Mir Hossein Mousavi's campaign)" at their residences, collecting computers, mobile phones, and other technology-related tools, and subsequently conducting "technical interrogations" of them. However, Mohammad Javad Azari Jahromi tweeted on August 17: "My job has never been interrogation or technical consultation or home searches." Amir Rashidi, an internet access researcher at the Human Rights Campaign in Iran, stated in an interview with Radio Farda that it was expected that Mohammad Javad Azari Jahromi would receive the parliament's vote, saying: "We must wait to see what team he will choose for the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology, and after that, we can have a clearer assessment of the direction and movement of this ministry." He also referred to the new minister's "non-transparent" history regarding the issue of eavesdropping and interrogating some protesters from 2009. Rashidi noted that regarding filtering, the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology has a significant role, stating that in the past four years, filtering has not decreased, and the performance of Rouhani's government has not been very positive, adding: "In the area of filtering, this trend will continue unless the judiciary or right-wing forces demand the closure of Telegram, in which case we will have other controversies." Meanwhile, according to reports from Iranian media, the President of Iran also commented on the proposed Minister of Culture, stating: "Our people have complaints. You in the parliament have the duty to ensure that if an issue is the minister's responsibility, others do not interfere, and if it is their responsibility, tell us not to interfere." He added: "In some cases, ten permits are issued for a job, but in a city, someone says they have filed a complaint, and it is clear who the complainant and the defendant are, and they lock the door. Locking is easy, but you must find the key and open the door. We hope that with Mr. Salehi's presence, we will witness the vitality of artists." Preventing concerts in some provinces of Iran, especially in Khorasan Razavi, stopping the screening of some films with permits, seizing newspapers, and the multiplicity of cultural institutions in Iran have been among the issues faced by the Ministry of Culture in recent years. Meanwhile, Hassan Rouhani, hours after the parliament's confidence vote for his 16 proposed ministers, appointed the heads of the "Program and Budget" and "Administrative and Employment Affairs" organizations, as well as his economic deputy and chief of staff. By Rouhani's decree, Mahmoud Vaezi was appointed as chief of staff, and Mohammad Nahavandian was appointed as the economic deputy of the presidency. In Rouhani's first government, Mohammad Nahavandian was chief of staff, and Mahmoud Vaezi was the Minister of Communications and Information Technology. In Rouhani's decree, there was no mention of the details of the duties of the economic deputy. Previously, criticisms had been raised about the lack of coordination within the government's economic team during Rouhani's first term. Hassan Rouhani also retained Mohammad Baqer Nobakht as the head of the Program and Budget Organization and Jamsheed Ansari as the head of the Administrative and Employment Organization. Mohammad Baqer Nobakht was also the spokesperson for the government in Rouhani's first term, but the spokesperson for the twelfth government has not yet been introduced. Meanwhile, Hassan Rouhani appointed the caretakers of the two ministries of Science and Energy. According to reports, Zia Hashemi was appointed as the caretaker of the Ministry of Science, and Setar Mahmoudi was appointed as the caretaker of the Ministry of Energy. Zia Hashemi had been the cultural deputy of the Minister of Science, and Setar Mahmoudi had been the deputy of the Ministry of Energy. According to the law, the President has three months to introduce the proposed ministers of Science and Energy to the parliament. The appointment of Setar Mahmoudi as the caretaker of the Ministry of Energy came after Habibollah Bitaraf, the proposed Minister of Energy, failed to gain the parliament's confidence on Sunday.