Just a day after parliament overwhelmingly voted against President Hassan Rouhani’s fourth nominee for the post of minister of higher education, he named a new candidate on Wednesday.
In a letter to Majlis Speaker Ali Larijani, the president proposed Mohammad Farhadi according to the article 133 of the Constitution.
Farhadi has a record of running ministries of higher education and health in previous administrations.
Parliament acknowledged the receipt of the nomination letter on Wednesday. “The session for a confirmation vote is expected to be held next week,” Mohammad Dehqan, a member of the Majlis presiding board told IRNA.
The higher education ministry has been run by a caretaker since mid-August when the Majlis impeached Reza Faraji-Dana. The conservative members of parliament had accused Faraji-Dana of mismanagement, especially concerning the case of students expelled from universities.
After Faraji-Dana’s dismissal, Rouhani proposed two other nominees to the Majlis; however, both of them failed to win lawmakers ‘ vote of approval to become minister.
Fakhreddin Ahmadi Danesh-Ashtiani was the latest candidate that was rejected by parliament on Tuesday. Some conservative parliamentarians have implied that Rouhani’s candidates have been rejected by parliament partly due to their alleged involvement in the unrest which occurred after the 2009 presidential election or because they remained silent or failed to take a “proper stance” on the events that are referred to as “sedition” as well as sympathizing with the reformists. Lawmakers also denied a vote of confidence to Jafar Mili Monfared, Rouhani’s original candidate for the post, following his inauguration as president last year.
