Unexpected Cabinet

Unexpected Cabinet

Throughout these days, many media outlets and a portion of society have been following the news of the establishment of these new formations moment by moment. Experts focused on achieving justice wherever possible, opposed the demands of the greedy, and supported positive discrimination for women, Sunnis, and religious minorities. However, ultimately, the publication of the proposed list of ministers for that society was met with hope for change and reform, albeit with much hesitation.

If we take a look at the published list, both political pressure from the ruling faction and interference and influence are evident.

In this list, among the leading reformists, only Mohammad Reza Zafarqandi is mentioned as the proposed Minister of Health. The figures who have been present in all the days of committee activities and the Steering Council, and whose names have been under consideration by these formations, alongside Abdulnaser Hemmati, the proposed Minister of Economy, and Gholamreza Nouri Zanjani, the proposed Minister of Agriculture from the Servants of Construction Party, are practically the only three reformist options. Their formations have introduced and supported the Medical Reform Front as their choice in the elections.

Also, if we consider some proposed ministers who are neither principlists nor reformists, such as Ahmad Meidari, Sattar Hashemi, Mohsen Paknejad, Farzaneh Sadegh Malvajerd, and Seyyed Mohammad Atabak, as options influenced by the expert opinions of committees.

It seems that the rest of the options have been more influenced by political discussions and negotiations.

It is evident that individuals close to Hassan Rouhani and his government, such as Seyyed Abbas Salehi, Seyyed Reza Salehi Amiri, Hossein Simaee Seraf, and Seyyed Abbas Araqchi, as well as from the principlist camp, like Eskandar Momeni, Ahmad Daneshmali, and Abbas Aliabadi, are aligned with this camp. Additionally, individuals like Seyyed Asghar Khatibi and Aziz Nasirzadeh are known to be in line with this camp. Although the affiliation of Amin Hossein Rahimi, the proposed minister of justice, with a specific camp is not clear, based on his past activities, he is likely close to Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejei, the current head of the judiciary, who was previously considered a principlist figure.

Of course, the president has the authority to choose the members of his cabinet, and the absence of a political party has practically made it impossible to predict the decisions of the government in our country. However, in recent days, there have been reports of pressure on physicians by reformist figures in the media, and the Reformist Front has expressed concern about the emergence of this event and its news.

Now, the composition of these cabinets does not have much compatibility with the perspective that was obtained from Masoud Pezeshkian during the election campaign, and one can only hope that Pezeshkian knows in which valley he has entered with which group and can maintain stability in the position of a manager, as he has stated.

Although we are all aware of the limitations and obstacles facing the presidents in determining the cabinet and ministers, Pezeshkian should not forget that people are looking for combating the anti-development trend, removing filtering, solving the hijab issue, and improving relations with the world, as repeatedly mentioned in his speeches, and of course, they have mostly voted for him based on the predominance of an expert view on government decisions.

If he imagines that by involving non-aligned ministers and handing over key ministries to a different faction, he can take a step in the direction he has outlined in all the days of campaigning and beyond for the people, we wish him success. However, if he cannot, he may become disillusioned with the hopes that may lie behind this process and the dissatisfaction that may follow.

In the past few hours, following the announcement of the proposed list of ministers and the disappointment it has caused, some reformists have expressed concern about the conventional reformist approach and worry about the continuation of the current situation instead of change.