President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad may no longer be as popular with Iran’s powers that be as he used to be.
Mehr, the semi-official Iranian news agency, is reporting that the Majlis, Iran’s parliament, has approved a proposal calling for the removal of the President from the general assembly of representatives of shareholders of major companies affiliated with the Oil Ministry, including the National Iranian Oil Company.
Of the 195 MPs present for the Majlis session on Wednesday, 131 lawmakers voted in favor of the proposal, one voted against it, and 7 abstained.
According to the new law, Iran’s Oil Minister will replace the President as the Chairman of the General Assembly, who is accountable for the performance of the National Iranian Oil Company.
Supporters of the new ratification say it will help facilitate access to the Chairman of the General Assembly.
Meanwhile, Tehran Times reports that President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad will appear before the parliament to answer questions on March 14.
The decision to summon president to the Majlis was made on February 7 after MPs were not convinced by the answers provided by the president’s representatives at a meeting held to discuss the reasons behind irregularities by the administration.
The President is expected to answer questions about the administration’s failure to fully disburse the funds allocated for the Tehran Metro, the failure to meet economic growth target of 8 percent set for the Iranian calendar year of 1389 (ended on March 20, 2011), poor implementation of the subsidy reform plan; the president’s alleged resistance to accept the Supreme Leader’s decree to reinstate the intelligence minister; the president’s remarks about the status of the Majlis; the failure to implement the law to establish the Sports and Youth Ministry and nominate the minister at the appointed time; the dismissal of the former foreign minister while on a diplomatic mission in Senegal; the administration’s poor performance in regard to cultural plans, and the president’s support for the promotion of the Iranian school of thought instead of the Islamic school of thought and his support for the deviant current.
In recent parliamentary elections in Iran, supporters of the Ayatollah Ali Khameini did better than supporters of Ahmadinejad. Both sides are radical and messianic, and both seek to develop nuclear weapons.