Raisi Cabinet Labor Minister Resigns, Industry Minister Receives Yellow Card from Parliament
Finally, several days after unconfirmed reports about the resignation of Hojjatoleslam Abdolmaleki, the Labor Minister, he published his letter of resignation addressed to Ibrahim Raisi on Tuesday, June 14.
Simultaneously, Reza Fatemi Amin, Minister of Industry, Mines and Trade, was unable to provide a convincing answer to parliamentary representatives’ questions about the ministry’s weakness in price control and its failure to support industrialists and miners, and received the Raisi administration’s first yellow card from parliament.
Hojjat Abdolmaleki, Labor Minister, wrote on Tuesday in several tweets addressed to Ibrahim Raisi that “to enhance coordination in the government,” he is resigning from the Ministry of Cooperatives, Labor and Social Welfare.
An hour later, the government spokesperson formally announced that the president has accepted Mr. Abdolmaleki’s resignation.
The government spokesperson also announced that Mohammad Hadi Zahedi Vafa will replace Mr. Abdolmaleki starting Tuesday. Zahedi Vafa held the position of deputy for coordination and supervision of economic and infrastructure affairs under the First Vice President.
The labor minister announced his resignation while Behzad Mehrkarsh, his media assistant, had previously responded to rumors about the labor minister’s dismissal, writing: “It’s a lie as always; previously they lied with the green bracelet, now with the beard.”
Criticism against the labor minister intensified when he supported a 10 percent increase in pensions for middle-income and near-minimum earners and also the government’s unilateral reduction of 100,000 tomans from housing allowances for working and retired workers.
Hojjatoleslam Abdolmaleki had previously made unprofessional statements on several occasions, including claiming that “you could create a job with one million tomans and now after several years have passed and raw material prices have increased, you can still create a job with one million tomans.”
He had also proposed under the title “2021 Economic Revolution” to change the use of agricultural lands, and on a television program had claimed that several young Iranians had successfully produced an “Iranian Lamborghini.”
On Tuesday, news agencies in Iran also reported the receipt of the first yellow card for Ibrahim Raisi’s cabinet by parliament.
According to ISNA, members of the Islamic Consultative Assembly were not satisfied with Reza Fatemi Amin’s, Minister of Industry, Mines and Trade, answers regarding the causes of this ministry’s weak performance in controlling commodity prices and its inability to support industrialists and miners in response to questions by Mohammad Vahidi, representative of Bojnurd, and gave him a yellow card.
After the industry minister’s answer, Mr. Vahidi, as the representative of the questioners, announced that considering nearly five months have passed since the issue was raised in the commission and to the minister regarding resolving these problems, the problems remain unresolved, and he left the judgment of the industry minister’s answers to the representatives.
Of the 246 representatives present at Tuesday’s session on June 14, 91 were satisfied with Fatemi Amin’s answers and 141 were not satisfied with these answers.
Previously, experts had repeatedly warned about the selection of inexperienced individuals lacking sufficient knowledge and experience in Ibrahim Raisi’s cabinet.
Source: Radio Farda
