Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is on Wednesday expected to nominate a relative novice as oil minister and seek to bring women into the cabinet for the first time - but he may face a hard fight to win approval from parliament. The outcome will be a further signal as to how secure Ahmadinejad's grip is on power after political setbacks following his contested re-election in June that led to street protests and political turmoil.
-- Mirkazemi, nominee for oil minister, is relative novice
-- Ahmadinejad failed to get first choices into post in 2005
-- Cabinet wrangle with parliament likely
A presidential adviser said Ahmadinejad would name current Commerce Minister Massoud Mirkazemi as new oil minister in the Islamic Republic, the world's fifth-largest crude exporter. Parliamentary affairs adviser Iraj Nadimi said the president would propose to the assembly that Manouchehr Mottaki stays on as foreign minister, the official IRNA news agency reported.
Several key nominees - Mirkazemi and the intelligence and interior ministers - have a background with the elite Revolutionary Guards (IRGC). Mirkazemi is a former deputy head of a Guards university. Seen as fiercely loyal to the values of the Islamic Republic, the force's influence appears to have grown since Ahmadinejad came to power in 2005. Two-thirds of his first 21-man cabinet four years ago were IRGC veterans, like himself.
Ahmadinejad has until later on Wednesday to officially present a cabinet to parliament for approval but may get a rough ride from the conservatives who dominate the assembly, as well as from moderate foes who see his government as illegitimate. Mirkazemi, an industrial engineer who has little known experience of the oil sector, would be a surprise choice for such a high-profile position. He was not on a shortlist of candidates carried by IRNA two weeks ago, but is seen as an Ahmadinejad ally. He would replace Gholamhossein Nozari.
Parliament must approve the proposed cabinet, which according to IRNA's incomplete list includes three women - at the health, social welfare and education ministries. It would be the first time that women holds a ministerial position in the Islamic Republic. MPs are due to start debating and voting on the proposed cabinet line-up later this month.
"If the proposed ministers do not have the necessary experience and knowledge ... and are not able to carry out their duty, parliament will act tough with them," conservative lawmaker Parviz Sarvari told ISNA news agency. MP Hossein Naghavi-Hosseini, said the legislature would "seriously and with a high sensitivity review the nominees."
Ahmadinejad, a hard-liner who was re-elected for a second four-year term in the disputed June 12 vote, failed to get his first three choices for oil minister into the post in 2005 because of parliamentary opposition. And some of his supporters have abandoned him since the disputed vote which led to the most serious disturbances since the 1979 Islamic revolution.
Some powerful figures, including two former presidents, have criticised his government's handling of the vote though Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has urged parliament to rally round the president and approve his new cabinet. The website of the Hamshahri newspaper said Mirkazemi, born in 1960, had managed petrochemical projects in the past but gave no details. "As far as I know, he has no experience of the oil industry," said one sector expert in Tehran.
Oil exports account for most of Iran's state revenue. The next minister faces the challenge of boosting oil and gas output under US and UN sanctions, imposed because of the dispute over Iran's nuclear programme.
"The whole industry in Iran has been going downhill since the mid-1990s due to sanctions ... They have a real need for reforms," said Mustafa Alani of the Gulf Research Centre. The West suspects Iran of seeking to build nuclear weapons. Iran says its programme is aimed at peaceful power generation and has ruled out suspending or freezing its activities.
The move to nominate female ministers appeared to be an attempt by the president to shore up his support among women. But one women right's campaigner said the nominees were conservatives who were unlikely to promote female rights.
Among other nominees, IRNA said current Defence Minister Mostafa Mohammad Najjar - a high-ranking Guards officer - would be proposed as interior minister. It said the defence ministry job was one of three posts still to be finalised. Heydar Moslehi, Khamenei's former representative in the Guards' ground force, would become intelligence minister after his predecessor was sacked and Economy Minister Shamseddin Hosseini would retain the post, according to IRNA's list.
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