TEHRAN - MP Hamid-Reza Haj-Babaii has emphasized that the MPs’ criterion for examining the qualifications of nominees for ministerial posts is competence not gender.

“The criterion of the Majlis for approving the administration’s ministerial nominees in the confirmation votes is not gender, and the representatives will vote for ministerial nominees based on their competence,” he told the Mehr News Agency on Wednesday.
The ministerial nominees should also have “expertise, experience, efficiency, and commitment,” Haj-Babaii added.
He rejected reports claiming that the female ministerial nominees have withdrawn their candidacies due to objections by a number of ulema, saying, “As far as I know, it is highly unlikely.”
“I will vote for any ministerial nominee who is able to manage his or her ministry,” he said.
Nominee for health minister has not withdrawn candidacy
MP Alireza Marandi of the Majlis Health Committee said that the nominee for the post of health minister, Marzieh Vahid Dastjerdi, has not withdrawn.
“The nominee for health minister has not stepped down and will probably receive a high number of votes from the Majlis,” he told MNA here on Wednesday.
Only one leading cleric has objected to the nomination of women for ministerial posts, and this may decrease the number of votes they receive in the parliamentary confirmation process, Marandi added.
However, MP Hossein Hosseini stated that the female nominees for ministerial posts may withdraw.
“The female nominees for ministerial posts may withdraw… due to their religious beliefs,” he told MNA on Wednesday.
It is said that a number of leading clerics have objected to the nomination of women for ministerial posts.
Nominee for intelligence minister describes his record
Majlis National Security and Foreign Policy Committee Deputy Chairman Esmaeil Kosari said that the nominee for the post of intelligence minister has attended a meeting with a number of MPs where he elaborated on his experience.
In a meeting on Wednesday with MPs representing Tehran, Haidar Moslehi elaborated on the experience he gained in the Intelligence Department of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps and the Basij force, Kosari told MNA.
A number of MPs had expressed concerns over the nomination of Moslehi for the post, saying he does not have any experience in this field.
President should have nominated more competent women for ministerial posts
Zeinab Society Secretary General Maryam Behrouzi stated that President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad should have nominated more competent women for ministerial posts.
“I wish the president had introduced ministerial nominees who were more competence and more efficient and who had brighter records,” she told MNA on Wednesday.
However, “It was expected that three women would be nominated for ministerial posts, and the president showed courage in this regard,” she said.
Behrouzi also pointed out that Marzieh Vahid Dastjerdi, the nominee for the post of health minister, is one of the five women the principlist women’s organizations had proposed to the president as nominees for ministerial posts.
But Dastjerdi is the only woman ministerial nominee who will be approved by the Majlis in the confirmation process, she predicted.
Five ministerial nominees will be rejected
MP Mohammad Reza Mir-Tajoddini of the Majlis Presiding Board said here on Wednesday that five nominees for ministerial posts will be rejected in the confirmation process.
Mir-Tajoddini added, “There are various criteria for confirming ministers, including competence in the related areas, efficiency, and academic and administrative records.”
He predicted that the nominees for the intelligence, science, culture, interior, economy, agricultural jihad, and communications ministry portfolios will surely be confirmed by the Majlis.
The MP refused to comment on the nomination of women for ministerial posts, saying, “I cannot make comments and prefer to remain silent.”
Nominees for new cabinet are “brave and efficient”
Loyalists of the Islamic Revolution Party Deputy Chairman Mohammad Azimi said that the proposed cabinet is composed of “brave and efficient” people.
“I believe that the (proposed) tenth cabinet is composed of brave and efficient individuals and is more cohesive and efficient than the ninth cabinet,” ISNA quoted him as saying on Wednesday.
He added, “Ahmadinejad and his cabinet members have become familiar with the nation’s situation and some of them who have clear records have been introduced to the Majlis (as nominees for the new cabinet).