Tehran, September 04: Iran’s vice speaker, Mohammad-Reza Bahonar, has hailed the Leader of the Islamic Revolution for providing Parliament with “friendly” guidance on clearing President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s nominees for his cabinet.
Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei “recommended that the government should start working at the earliest and with fullest capacity at the time when the country is faced with domestic and international crises and issues,” Fars News Agency quoted Bahonar as saying on Thursday.
He asserted that the Leader’s message was simply a “friendly” advice.
“This was not an order at all but a consultative and friendly view which compelled the lawmakers to work more tolerantly with the government.”
On Thursday, Iranian lawmakers approved all but three of Ahmadinejad’s 21 nominees for his cabinet, including one of the three women.
Brigadier General Ahmad Vahidi won the highest number of votes and Marzieh Vahid-Dastjerdi became Iran’s first woman to take a ministerial post in the Islamic Republic.
“If we had not received the Leader’s recommendations, eight or nine ministers would have failed to win the vote of confidence,” Bahonar added. “It would not have been a good start for the government.”
Bahonar, a leading Principlist lawmaker, also called on the president to name nominees for the three remaining ministries as soon as possible.
—–Agencies