CRITICISM OF CABINET RESHUFFLE CONTINUE
PARIS 7TH Jan. (IPS) President Mohammad Khatami’s last cabinet reshuffle continue to be sharply criticised by both his opponents and supporters inside Iran, with many commentators observing that his failure of bringing in new faces indicates his determination to seek a new mandate in the next June presidential elections while avoiding confrontation with the conservatives, particularly the lamed and fundamentalist leader, Ayatollah Ali Khameneh'i.
On 4 January, the embattled President proposed to the Majles (parliament) five new ministers, all but one drawn from his present cabinet, to fill in the new "super" ministries of Mines and Industries, created form the merger of ministries of Mines and Metals and Industries, the Agriculture and Reconstruction, made of the merger between the Reconstruction Mobilisation and Agriculture, the PTT, Roads and Transport and the Islamic Culture and Guidance
"On the eve of the May 1997 election, President Khatami made several promises to his voters. One was to bring new faces into the government. When he announced the first cabinet members, people were really disappointed because the same old faces who had served in the previous administration of the Islamic Republic were there", wrote the pro-conservative, English-language daily "Tehran Times".
In fact, the majority of the new president’s ministers, including some of the "heavy weights" like former Interior minister Hojjatoleslam Abdollah Nuri, who serves now a five years-term jail for offending the leader, or Mr. Ata’ollah Mohajerani, who was forced to resign under personal pressure from Mr. Khameneh’i were serving in the government of former president Ayatollah Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani.
"Few regimes in the world are as poorly served as is the Islamic Republic, as, in more than 22 years it is in power, it has relied on between 250 to 300 people only, most of them family members or close relatives of the ruling clerical rulers, for all major administrative jobs and this while the country used to enjoy one of the most dynamic and advanced technocracy among third world nations", noted one Iran watcher.
"It is really surprising that for over a decade the same people have been serving the nation with a change in their portfolios while a long list of recently educated and more learned young people are waiting for a chance to serve their nation", the paper confirmed, adding that by appointing the outgoing ministers as his advisers, Mr. Khatami also continue the "same old practice" as his predecessor.
"The irony is that the government of President Khatami criticises the economic policies of Mr. Rafsanjani, but he appoints the authors of his economic policies to his cabinet. The same as it is not possible to launch new economic policies with the same old team, one can not implement new political measures using a group of people that did not believe in it. Anyway, by making changes in his cabinet, Khatami removed the uncertainty that existed in the political circles (concerning whether he would run or not in the next presidential race).
Many believe that if Mr. Khatami decide to run, he will win but with a reduced number of votes compared with the 20 millions he got in the May 1997 election, as the people are very much disappointed with the growing sickness of the country's economy, the ever-increasing factional fighting and his own failure to stand up more firmly to the conservatives systematic "violation" of the existing laws.
People, mostly the students, are deceived by Mr. Khatami, for, not only he did not budged when the leader-controlled Judiciary closed some 30 independent and reformist publications that have committed no guilt but backing his promised reforms, thrown in jail one of his strongest minister an ally in Mr. Nuri and kept silence over the issue of Mr. Molhajerani as well as the imprisonment of several leading journalists, some of them his loyal supporters, but defended the present Constitution many sees as the core of the regime’s "basic illness".
"Following the 2nd Khordad elections (23 May 1997), Khatami raised various discussions concerning the choosing of ministers and argued for new criteria in their selection. But what came out of this? A very ordinary cabinet, which, in some cases, no one could understand, noted the pro-reform "Doran Rouz".
Interestingly, this newspaper also observed that thought Mr. Khatami had promised changes, yet he formed a cabinet with the same people taken from among 200 to 300 personalities who throughout the years after the revolution had served in various ministries. "He either does not want or cannot replace this closed circle with new faces", Doran Rouz added.
"From this viewpoint it will become clear that Mr Khatami's criteria for choosing ministers are the same that he had previously taken into account in his selection: avoiding tension and not provoking the authoritarian faction, the chosen individual not being innovative and pro-development theoretician, ultimately resulting in the formation of a cabinet that, aside from one or two exceptional cases, looks non-political, ministers who have not brought about any change in their ministry in relation to extending democracy and civil institutions and who when they appear in (Ali) Larijani's Voice and Vision (the leader-controlled Radio and Television) to give political commentary, they talk about the Berlin Conference and its participants!
"In selecting ministers one must not deal a blow to the hope of the people. The people endeavoured with great excitement and emotion to demonstrate their inclination for change by participating in three large elections. If ministers were to be selected in a manner that portrays the maintenance of the status quo and merger in the power structure, this hope will all of a sudden transform into despair. Mr Khatami is not expected to play the role of opposition, but it is also not expected that he emerge on the scene as the defender of any measure and decision that runs against the democratic reform movement of the country".
"Mr Khatami must always consider that the reserve of public trust is not inexhaustible and whoever does not pay attention to this fact will very quickly be deprived of this asset", concluded the paper. ENDS CABINET RESHUFFLE 7101