Majlis wraps up debate on ministerial nominees Thu Aug 15, 2013 9:44PM GMT 0 29 5 LAST UPDATE Download | Embed The Iranian parliament (Majlis) has concluded a vote of confidence on President Hassan Rouhani’s cabinet picks after four days of debates about the qualification of the ministerial nominees. On Thursday evening, the lawmakers approved 15 ministers nominated by Rouhani for his cabinet. The Majlis approved Mahmoud Vaezi as the minister of communication and information technology with 218 votes in favor, 45 against, and 20 abstentions from the 284 MPs who were present in the Majlis. Seyyed Mahmoud Alavi won the vote of confidence with 227 votes in favor, 38 votes against, and 18 abstentions to become the intelligence minister. The parliament voted 274-7, with three abstentions, to approve Ali Tayebnia as the minister of economic affairs and finance. President Rouhani’s choice of foreign minister, Mohammad Javad Zarif, was approved by the Majlis with 232 votes in favor, 36 against, and 13 abstentions. Ali Rabiei collected 163 votes in favor, 100 votes against and 21 abstentions, and was chosen as the minister of cooperatives, labor and social welfare. Mahmoud Hojjati -- Rouhani’s nominee for the agricultural jihad minister -- won the parliamentary confidence vote with 177 MPs voting in favor, 81 against, and 26 abstentions. Mostafa Pour-Mohammadi received 201 votes in favor, 64 votes against and 19 abstentions, and became the justice minister. The Majlis voted 269-10, with five abstentions to approve Hossein Dehghan as the defense minister. Hassan Qazizadeh Hashemi gathered 260 votes in favor, 18 votes against and six abstentions, and was named the minister of health, treatment and medical education. Abbas Akhoundi won the vote of confidence with 159 votes in favor, 107 votes against and 18 abstentions, and was chosen the minister of roads and urban development. Mohammad-Reza Nematzadeh became the minister of industry, mining and trade with 199 votes in favor, 60 against, and 24 abstentions. Abdolreza Rahmani Fazli was named interior minister after receiving 256 votes in favor, 19 votes against and nine abstentions. The Majlis approved Bijan Namdar Zanganeh for the ministry of oil in a vote of 166 to 104, with 13 abstentions. Hamid Chitchian got 272 votes in favor, seven votes against and five abstentions, and was named the minister of energy. Ali Jannati also won the confidence vote with 234 votes in favor, 36 against and 12 abstentions, and was chosen the minister of culture and Islamic guidance. The nominees for the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Science, Research and Technology, as well as the Ministry of Sports and Youth failed to receive a vote of confidence from the Majlis. Mohammad-Ali Najafi nominated as Iran’s next education minister could not get a vote of confidence in the open session of the Majlis on Thursday. He received 142 votes in favor, 133 against, and nine abstentions. Jafar Mili-Monfared also failed to win a vote of confidence in the Majlis to head the Ministry of Science, Research and Technology. He received 105 votes in his favor, 162 against and 15 abstentions. Moreover, Masoud Soltanifar -- the nominee to head the Ministry of Sports and Youth -- lost confidence vote on Wednesday with 117 votes in favor, 148 votes against, and 18 abstentions. The legislators had started reviewing the qualifications of the nominees on Monday. President Rouhani has now up to three months to name a replacement for the ministerial nominees that failed to receive a vote of confidence from the Majlis. MP/MHB
Posted on: Fri, 16 Aug 2013 04:52:01 +0000
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