The first session of the debate on the proposed 18-member Cabinet began on Monday, when President Rouhani addressed the lawmakers, elaborating on the general policies of Iran’s new administration.
The Monday debate continued with heated discussions by the Iranian lawmakers speaking for and against the proposed nominee.
At the end of the session on Monday, the opponents and proponents expressed their views on the nominee for the minister of education, Mohammad Ali Najafi.
The Tuesday session began with Najafi defending his plans. He was Iran’s education minister from 1989 to 1997 during the administrations of former President Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani.
Najafi stressed the necessity of using a strategic plan as well as past experiences in the Education Ministry, saying, “One of the weaknesses that we faced in the past was the lack of a strategic plan for education, as a result of which some contradictory decisions were made and carried out.”
Referring to the Education Ministry’s upstream documents on scientific, technical and religious issues, which have been endorsed by Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei, Najafi said the general outlines of his plans for the ministry were based on these documents.
Meanwhile, President Rouhani also arrived on the Majlis floor during the Tuesday debate and was welcomed by Speaker Ali Larijani.
According to Majlis’ procedures, the president may choose to use the time allotted to him and his Cabinet nominees to speak in favor of them.
President Rouhani submitted the list of nominees for the Cabinet during his inauguration ceremony in Majlis on August 4.
Ayatollah Khamenei endorsed Rouhani for a four-year term in office as Iran’s new president in a ceremony on August 3 following his victory in the Iranian presidential election.
