Gov't-Friendly Majlis Lines Up 1st Impeachment

A motion for impeachment of Education Minister Ali Asghar Fani was introduced in parliament on Tuesday, in the second attempt to remove him from office and the first challenge for the incumbent administration in the new, more government-friendly Majlis.

In an open session of parliament, Akbar Ranjbarzadeh, a member of the Majlis Presiding Board, announced that the body has officially received a request signed by 45 parliamentarians, IRNA reported.

Majlis Speaker Ali Larijani said Fani will probably appear before parliament next week.

According to the law, the impeached minister has 10 days to come to the Majlis and defend his record.

The motion says it intends to "protect interests of over 1 million teachers and 12 million students".

The minister's failure to win the satisfaction of the education community, poor management and ineffective allocation of human resources and lack of well-thought-out plans to help enhance the quality of education were among the reasons mentioned in the text of the motion.  

Others include the ministry's unsatisfactory record in addressing the educational needs of deprived areas, failing to properly teach students on cultural norms and not paying due attention to the salary demands of the ministry's personnel.

In June 2015, Fani managed to survive an impeachment in the previous principlist-dominated Majlis, although he had received an official warning after failing to convince lawmakers in a session in Jan. 2015.

As per the parliamentary procedure, after an impeachment request is presented to the presiding board, it will be sent to the relevant specialized commission for examination.

If the number of backers of the impeachment decreases to less than 10 lawmakers after a meeting between the commission and the minister, the impeachment will be canceled, otherwise its receipt will be announced by the presiding board and lawmakers will vote on whether to remove the minister. It will be the fourth impeachment of ministers of the government led by Hassan Rouhani.

The previous Majlis dismissed former science minister, Reza Faraji Dana, while Minister of Roads and Urban Development Abbas Akhoundi survived a similar attempt.

The last Majlis elections were held in two rounds in February and April, in which a coalition of government backers and reformists managed to earn a simple majority of seats and break a long chain of overwhelming principlist victories.

Late Wednesday, an informed source close to the government told ISNA that the education minister, Culture and Islamic Guidance Minister Ali Jannati and Sports and Youth Minister Mahmoud Goudarzi have tendered their resignations to the president as part of a decision to partly reshuffle the Cabinet to increase its efficiency.

The source also denied reports that Economic Affairs and Finance Minister Ali Tayyebnia and Industries, Mining and Trade Minister Mohammad Reza Nematzadeh have decided to step down from their posts.