Over 50 Professors from Sharif University Oppose Proposed Science Minister

With only one day left before the parliamentary session to review the proposed Minister of Science, more than 50 professors from Sharif University of Technology implicitly called on the parliament not to vote for Mansour Gholami in a letter to the parliamentary leadership and representatives. On Sunday, November 7, the parliament will decide on the qualifications of Mansour Gholami for the Ministry of Science and Reza Ardakaniyan for the Ministry of Energy. Mansour Gholami's nomination by Hassan Rouhani's government has faced widespread critical reactions in student and media circles. Now, these professors, by signing this letter, expressed their regret over what they called the government's and the President's indifference to the demands of academics, urging representatives to vote only for those who have "the necessary professional qualifications and acceptance among the majority of academics." Part of the letter states: "We are deeply sorry that there has been no attention from the esteemed government and especially the esteemed President to the demands of academics. Therefore, at this final stage of that esteemed parliament and its fair representatives from all political factions, we ask them to consider the opinions of academics when reviewing the qualifications of the candidate for the Ministry of Science and to only grant trust to an individual who has the necessary professional qualifications and acceptance among the majority of academics." Mansour Gholami is the president of Bu-Ali Sina University in Hamedan and holds a PhD in horticultural sciences from Australia. Previously, a group of student activists had warned Hassan Rouhani about the nomination of Mansour Gholami for the Ministry of Science in a statement. The Ministry of Science has been run by an acting head since the beginning of the twelfth government, and introducing a minister for this ministry has become one of the government's challenges. In this regard, Mahmoud Sadeghi, a representative from Tehran, reported that "according to relevant officials, the President has introduced more than 10 candidates for the Ministry of Science who have not been approved by the Leader." Rouhani's first government also had a controversial Ministry of Science, and after several candidates for this ministry were rejected by the ninth parliament, his first Minister of Science, Reza Faraji-Dana, was dismissed through impeachment. After him, that parliament did not vote for two other proposed candidates until Rouhani finally gained trust by introducing Mohammad Farhadi. Meanwhile, on Saturday, protests were held at universities in Tehran and several other cities against Rouhani's proposed minister. Previously, three representatives from the Hope faction, Mahmoud Sadeghi, Fatemeh Saeedi, and Jalal Mirzaei, had met with Mansour Gholami. Mahmoud Sadeghi and Fatemeh Saeedi, who were opponents of this candidate, announced after meeting him that they were convinced by the explanations of this proposed minister and supported him. Mahmoud Sadeghi also stated: "Before the meeting, I had a critical view of him" and "in the meeting, we clearly expressed all these criticisms, and he responded in detail. Our conclusion was that Gholami, if not the ideal candidate, could be acceptable."