MPs Propose Choices to Head New Ministries
August 22, 2000 - 0:0
TEHRAN Following the merger of four government ministries into two, deputies of various affiliations are now in heated debate on their choices of ministers to head the newly reorganized ministries, a press report said here on Monday.
The Majlis passed a bill on Sunday merging the Ministry of Agriculture with the Ministry of Construction Jihad and the Ministry of Industries with the Ministry of Mines and Metals. Details of the merger are to be taken up in subsequent readings of the bill.
The government daily Iran reports that a large majority of MPs support Seyed Safdar Hosseini, Deputy Head of the Organization of Management, Research and Planning for appointment as the newly merged Jihad and Agriculture Ministry.
Hosseini is the former governor general of the southern Chaharmahal-Bakhtiari Province.
However, other Majlis deputies say President Mohammad Khatami is inclined to having the current minister of Construction Jihad, Mohammad Saeedi-Kia, to continue in his post, adding that the MPs however would not endorse him.
MPs affiliated to the pro-reform Islamic Iran Participation Party (IIPP), the party which commands the majority in Parliament, have signified their support for the current Minister of Cooperatives, Morteza Haji, to head the new ministry.
The IIPP, headed by the younger brother of President Khatami, obtained the highest number of votes in February's parliamentary polls.
The daily also quoted some deputies as proposing current Roads and Transportation Minister, Mahmoud Hojjati, to run the newly organized Ministry of Industries and Mines, while other reports say the current Minister of Mines and Metals, Is'haq Jahangiri, could be appointed to the post.
The mergers are seen as part of a plan by President Khatami to trim the government and streamline bureaucracy which is paralyzing it.
Khatami last month appointed PTT minister Mohammadreza Aref to Head the newly created Management and Planning Organization, the result of a merger of the former Plan and Budget Organization (PBO) and the Organization for Administrative and Employment affairs.
Heads of the two above-mentioned dissolved organizations, Mohammad-Ali Najafi and Mohammad Baqerian, respectively, were later appointed advisors to President Khatami.
(IRNA)
The Majlis passed a bill on Sunday merging the Ministry of Agriculture with the Ministry of Construction Jihad and the Ministry of Industries with the Ministry of Mines and Metals. Details of the merger are to be taken up in subsequent readings of the bill.
The government daily Iran reports that a large majority of MPs support Seyed Safdar Hosseini, Deputy Head of the Organization of Management, Research and Planning for appointment as the newly merged Jihad and Agriculture Ministry.
Hosseini is the former governor general of the southern Chaharmahal-Bakhtiari Province.
However, other Majlis deputies say President Mohammad Khatami is inclined to having the current minister of Construction Jihad, Mohammad Saeedi-Kia, to continue in his post, adding that the MPs however would not endorse him.
MPs affiliated to the pro-reform Islamic Iran Participation Party (IIPP), the party which commands the majority in Parliament, have signified their support for the current Minister of Cooperatives, Morteza Haji, to head the new ministry.
The IIPP, headed by the younger brother of President Khatami, obtained the highest number of votes in February's parliamentary polls.
The daily also quoted some deputies as proposing current Roads and Transportation Minister, Mahmoud Hojjati, to run the newly organized Ministry of Industries and Mines, while other reports say the current Minister of Mines and Metals, Is'haq Jahangiri, could be appointed to the post.
The mergers are seen as part of a plan by President Khatami to trim the government and streamline bureaucracy which is paralyzing it.
Khatami last month appointed PTT minister Mohammadreza Aref to Head the newly created Management and Planning Organization, the result of a merger of the former Plan and Budget Organization (PBO) and the Organization for Administrative and Employment affairs.
Heads of the two above-mentioned dissolved organizations, Mohammad-Ali Najafi and Mohammad Baqerian, respectively, were later appointed advisors to President Khatami.
(IRNA)