The third day of debating the plans and competence of President Rouhani’s picks for his second-term cabinet kicked off at Parliament on Thursday morning and continued until 12:30. During the previous two days, lawmakers reviewed the qualification of Rouhani’s appointees to ministries of education, ICT, intelligence, economy, foreign ministry, health, and labor.
President Rouhani picked his previous Minister of Agriculture, Ali Hojjati, for his second-term cabinet. His opponents and supporters discussed Hojjati’s handling of crises facing agriculture, natural resources, and rural areas.
Rouhani’s new pick for Ministry of Justice, Alireza Avaei, had no lawmaker speaking against him, and only four MPs spoke in his defense, focusing on his ethical approach, hard work, a good relationship with the country’s judicial community, and the capability to creating further cohesion in the security and political teams of Rouhani’s administration. Avaei has served seven years as Chief Justice of Tehran.
Rouhani’s new appointee to Ministry of Defense, Amir Hatami, had no speaker against him. The position was previously held by Brig. Gen. Hossein Dehghan. A lawmaker speaking in Hatami’s defense said Parliament’s unanimous vote of confidence for Rouhani’s pick will send a decisive message to those countries which impose defense-related sanctions against Iran.
The last pick for today’s session was Rouhani’s appointee to Ministry of Roads and Urban Development, Abbas Akhoundi, who had also served at the same position during the President’s first-term cabinet. Akhoundi was generally praised for his efforts on signing deals with ATR, Boeing and Airbus.
Parliament will continue with the remaining cabinet picks on Saturday.
MS
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