Azadeh Mirrazi

Sadeq Mahsouli was sworn in as the interior minister by the small margin of five votes ‎separating his proponents and opponents, making the appointment of the ninth ‎administration’s third interior minister controversial. ‎

While 138 out of 275 lawmakers cast white ballots as a vote of confidence, eighth Majlis ‎Speaker Ali Larijani did not accept that “majority” vote means “half plus one” of all ‎votes, announcing that Mahsouli is officially the interior minister because in his opinion ‎the “majority” of lawmakers had voted in his support. About 20 lawmakers called for a ‎recount on the basis that the Constitution defines majority as “half plus one,” meaning ‎that Mahsouli’s approval required 139 votes. What cast a shadow on Mahsouli’s ‎controversial appointment was Ali Larijani’s pronouncement that not only is Mahsouli ‎the interior minister from his point of view, but also that he would refuse to allow the ‎state radio and television network to broadcast footage of voting and counting ‎proceedings. ‎

Larijani told reporters that his count showed 275 lawmakers to be present at the session. ‎However, an hour earlier he had announced a lower number. During the initial count, the ‎Speaker of the eighth Majlis noted that 270 lawmakers were present, but before he was ‎able to announce the number of those voting in favor or against Mahsouli, lawmakers ‎began shouting that the number of those present exceeded 270. The number of ‎lawmakers present was significant because it determined the number of votes required to ‎approve Mahsouli as interior minister. ‎

Larijani then attempted to put an end to the controversy by counting 273 lawmakers as ‎present, but lawmakers continued to protest. Larijani announced that 138 lawmakers had ‎voted for, 112 had voted against, and 20 had abstained. The total number added up to ‎‎270, the number of present lawmakers initially announced by Larijani; while reports from ‎the Majlis entrance area indicated that 275 lawmakers were present at the time of voting. ‎

Entering Cabinet following Controversial Session

Tensions began in yesterday’s Majlis session early on; when Dariush Ghanbari, member ‎of the minority reformist faction, suggested that the session be held behind closed doors ‎‎“to save the regime from further humiliation.” This suggestion was left unanswered ‎under protests of members of pro-administration faction and Larijani’s opposition. ‎

However, this was not the last time that the mention of Ghanbari’s name caused tension ‎in the Majlis. An hour later, following remarks by opponents and proponents of the ‎proposed minister, when Larijani invited the spokesperson for the minority reformist ‎faction to speak as an opponent of the proposed minister, pro-Ahmadinejad lawmakers ‎protested very loudly and even physically barred Ghanbari from entering the stage to ‎speak in opposition to Mahsouli. In the end, no reformist lawmaker was able to take a ‎stance on Ahmadinejad’s proposed minister. ‎

Other lawmakers protested the speech by Fatemeh Ajorlu, who had registered to speak in ‎opposition to Mahsouli but actually spoke in support of him. But Larijani did not react in ‎any way to Ajorlu’s manipulation of the opposing camp’s time and she finished her ‎speech in support of Mahsouli. Only then Larijani addressed Ajorlu, “In my opinion, you ‎did not show any opposition and only addressed unrelated issues.”‎

The representatives from Malayer and Islam Abad Gharb, Vanayee and Falahat-Pisheh, ‎who were speaking in opposition to Mahoulis, harshly criticized the proposed minister’s ‎significant wealth and how he achieved such wealth, accusing him of “amassing wealth ‎by cutting down Tehran’s trees for development projects and involvement in illegal ‎transit of energy outside the country” and called on Mahsouli to explain about such ‎violations. These two lawmakers then questioned Mahsouli’s prior involvement in ‎Ahmadinejad’s election campaigns and voiced doubts about his impartiality and fairness ‎as interior minister. ‎

This issue was so serious that it fueled concerns by opposing lawmakers on the Majlis ‎floor; so much so that, in his characteristic blunt manner, Falahat-Pisheh clearly accused ‎Mahsouli of planning to manipulate election results, adding, “You have set up several ‎campaign offices for Ahmadinejad, meaning these offices were set up prior to your ‎appointment to interior ministry.” ‎

Nevertheless, Mahsouli who repeatedly described himself as the “supreme leader’s ‎soldier,” exited the eighth Majlis as the interior minister and now has to administer an ‎election in which Ahmadinejad is a main candidate. ‎