The Majlis on Sunday gave its approval to the five new ministers proposed by President Seyed Mohammad Khatami for the culture and Islamic guidance, industries and mines, agricultural jihad, roads and transportation, and post, telegraph and telephone portfolios.

The majority faction in the Majlis passed a vote of confidence in the proposed ministers without conducting the necessary debate on their programs and future plans, which came as a surprise to the Iranian people.

In principle, the president's nominees should have presented their future plans for their ministries so that the lawmakers could assess their qualifications for the job, their plans and programs for the future as well as their solutions to some chronic problems facing those ministries.

This is a common practice in all democratic systems throughout the world. In fact, the previous nominee of the president for the Ministry of Post, Telegraph and Telephone was rejected by the Majlis after he presented his future plans to the deputies, who then came to the conclusion that the proposed minister lacked the necessary experience and qualifications for the job.

Thus, the people were greatly surprised on Sunday when they noticed that the majority faction in the Majlis did not call on the proposed ministers to present their future plans and passed a vote of confidence in them without conducting the necessary debate over their qualifications.

It is unfortunate that even those deputies who opposed some of the president's nominees did not provide any reasons for their opposition. This ran counter to the people's expectations from their representatives, who have been tasked by their constituencies to pass a vote of confidence in new ministers after careful study and necessary debate.

The people were also dissatisfied because the president's nominees included some ministers who had served in the previous administrations but had not displayed a very great performance.

The president had promised the people during his election campaign that he would introduce more efficient and qualified ministers into the cabinet so that the country may tread the path of development at a faster pace. But he did not completely fulfill his promise after election.

And now the inclusion of some old faces among the new ministers does not portend a change for the better in the government's policies and development plans.