The Majlis Education and Research Commission, which had been tasked to review impeachment proceedings against Education Minister Ali Asghar Fani, was not convinced by his explanations in a meeting of the commission on Sunday, so the Majlis will go ahead and vote on whether to remove the minister.
"In the meeting, some lawmakers representing the backers of the impeachment request asked the education minister questions but were not convinced by his answers," Jabbar Kouchakinejad, member of the commission, was quoted by IRNA as saying.
"The motion will be sent to the Majlis Presiding Board, which will acknowledge its receipt on Tuesday and will have Fani appear before Parliament next week to defend himself."
Under the new amendments to the parliamentary procedure, after an impeachment request is submitted to the presiding board, it will be sent to the relevant specialized commission for further examination, Kouchakinejad said.
"If the number of backers of the impeachment decreases to less than 10 lawmakers (after the commission's meetings with the minister), the impeachment will be canceled, but today not only the number of the signers did not fall, but the number of the backers reached 70," he explained.
The minister's failure to win the trust and satisfaction of the education community and to have the government allocate the required budget for the implementation of plans to improve the education system were among the reasons mentioned in the text of the motion.
Other reasons include the ministry's unsatisfactory record in addressing the educational needs of deprived areas and in paying due attention to salary demands by the personnel and lack of effective and well-thought-out plans to help enhance the quality of education.
Fani had been summoned to Parliament for questioning in January but had failed to win the support of parliamentarians and received an official warning.
