TEHRAN – Energy Minister Majid Namju narrowly survived an impeachment vote during an open session of the Majlis on Sunday.

Of the 209 votes cast, 102 MPs voted against, 101 voted for, and 6 abstained.
The impeachment motion was put to a vote after a number of lawmakers spoke against and in favor of the energy minister’s performance.
43 lawmakers had signed the motion for impeachment of the energy minister.
President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad also appeared at the Majlis and defended the record of the energy minster, saying Namju is a faithful and trustworthy man and it is a pity that he would be voted out of office.
He called on MPs to give the energy minster a vote of confidence.
Namju also defended his performance by presenting a number of figures showing that the situation of the energy sector has improved during his tenure.
The parliamentarians who sought Namju’s removal cited weak management, poor planning, existence of discrimination in the ministry, failure to fulfill commitments and promises, failure to implement the cabinet’s ratifications, technical incapability, inappropriate replacement of managers, and long delays in the dam construction and water supply and wastewater treatment projects as the reasons to oust him