In a Cabinet meeting on Sunday, President Hassan Rouhani expressed firm support for the three ministers facing impeachment urging them to put forward a clear and detailed explanation of their services in the upcoming hearings.
Minister of Cooperatives, Labor and Social Welfare Ali Rabiei and Minister of Roads and Urban Development Abbas Akhoundi are slated to be impeached in separate sessions on Tuesday and Agriculture Minister Mahmoud Hojjati will appear before parliament on Wednesday.
While acknowledging the right of parliament to question government officials, Rouhani voiced disapproval of legislators' hasty decision, the president's official website reported.
"Lawmakers have given a vote of confidence to these ministers six months ago which is too short a period to raise doubts about their performance," he said expressing hope that they will gain a confirmation vote once more.
He commended Akhoundi's "remarkable services" in sectors including rail, road, air and port transport as well as housing and urban development in the past and during the short period of the present administration and called on the minister to give a clear account of them in the session.
The president also asked Hojjati to include a complete report of the ministry's achievements in increasing the production of wheat, sugar, cooking oil and rapeseed, improving the balance of food trade, developing self-sufficiency in food supplies and agricultural exports as well as promoting offshore aquaculture, greenhouse cultivation and modern farming methods.
Rouhani advised Rabiei to call attention to the expansion of insurance coverage especially among the underprivileged strata, enhancement of welfare services for low-income families, orphans, women breadwinners and the disabled, improvement in workers' conditions and settlement of pension fund affairs along with new job creation schemes such as employment in rural areas that initiated a few months ago.
"An affirmative vote of confidence to the impeached ministers will strengthen the establishment and boost people's hope for the future in the final days of the [Iranian] year," he said calling on the Majlis to help the officials to extend their terms.
***Reasons for Impeachment
The roads minister has been accused of weakness in dealing with issues facing the transport system, inadequate supervision over the air and train fleet that has led to the death of a large number of passengers, failure to implement the proposed plans to revamp the public transport system and lack of accountability to the public.
Rabiei, the labor minister, will defend himself against claims of incompetence in managing the organizations affiliated with the ministry including Aseman Airlines and the Social Security Investment Company, the growing debts at the associated institutions and failure to help provide better public services.
The impeachment motion for both ministers was signed by 24 lawmakers.
Hojjati has faced criticism over his failure to reduce unnecessary imports of agriculture products to protect local farmers, inability to find new export markets and failure to promote modern cultivation technologies to preserve natural resources.
The agriculture minister is also under fire for his disregard for inflation in pricing staple foods such as wheat, insufficient support for the country's nomads, slow progress in tackling the issue of dust storms, among others.
He, however, has been summoned to parliament with the minimum number of required signatures, namely 10.
Each impeachment session will last five hours. Legislators in favor of the impeachment motion will have two hours to raise questions and make their case and the ministers or their supporters among lawmakers will mount their defense for up to three hours.
