Still reeling from a series of scandals since his disputed reelection last month, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad again reversed a key decision, this time backing off reports that he planned to sack four members of his cabinet in a major shakeup.
Ahmadinejad had reportedly sparred with the ministers over the appointment of long-time ally Esfiander Rahim Mashaei to the powerful position of First Vice President, a scandal which has continued to provoke criticism from hardliners in the country.
The outspoken president was forced to abruptly reverse course, however, when it was pointed out that according to the Iranian Constitution the replacement of more than half of the cabinet required him to seek a new vote of confidence from Parliament. Only Intelligence Minister Gholam Hossein Mohseni Ejeie’s dismissal remains in effect.
This may not be the end of the mastter, however, as Culture Minister Mohammad Hossein Saffar Harandi has said he is resigning over the conflicting reports of his dismissal. A confidence vote in Parliament would likely be extremely difficult at the moment for President Ahmadinejad, who faces harsh opposition from Reformists who claim he rigged the election and public condemnation from right-wing clerics for his defense of Mashaei. For now that vote appears to have been averted.
Well, well… The "reformers' are trying every trick in the book. What is distrubing with our press is the utter lack of requisite knowledge of the Iranian situation, are thus suspecitibility for official "narrative". You would think that after the years of Iran-fobia we would have a well informed press. Not so. The "reformists" are the oligarchs in the robes, while the "hardliners" are actuallu the reformers. Ahmedinejad is the first non-clerical appointee, and he needed to position himslef to the right of Ghingis Khan. If he did not, Rafsanjani, the Grey Shark, would have had him for breakfast. Wieh the billions in off=shore accounts, he bankrolled Mousavi's campaign, and the twittering crowd. Our jouranists fogot that this Gucci crowd of norhtern Tehran does not have any support in the countryside, where Ahmedinijad won, and won big. The game with the new appointee is just a game. Being derided as "pro Israel", it is cute to see Ahmedinejad stand by him, while the "reformists" Mousavi, Khatami or Rafsanjani did not do a thing to support him.