Iran's embattled President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, whose disputed re-election unleashed the worst crisis in the Islamic republic's history, appealed to parliament today to approve his new cabinet.
"I hope the majlis will firmly approve all ministers and with a decisive vote it will turn the hopes of ill-wishers into despair," he told MPs as he introduced his proposed line-up at the start of a three-day debate ahead of a vote of confidence on Wednesday.
Mr Ahmadinejad said his victory in the June 12 presidential election was confirmation that the Iranian people wanted his government to "continue on the same path" of his first four-year term.
"We are committed to spreading justice, preserving the national dignity, achieve progress and confront the bullying powers. We will continue to support oppressed nations and cooperate constructively with all nations except the Zionist regime," he said of arch-foe Israel.
But Mr Ahmadinejad faces a daunting task in securing a mandate from the conservative-dominated assembly for his line-up which includes several new faces, among them three women - a first in the Islamic republic.
Lawmaker Ali Akbar Yousefnajed, who was a senior official in the government of Mr Ahmadinejad's reformist predecessor Mohammad Khatami, criticised the hardliner for selecting several new faces.
"The president used the same words in qualifying his cabinet as he used four years ago. How come we have 14 new faces?" he asked. "Where are those who were sacked in the last four years?"
During his first term, Mr Ahmadinejad received flak for firing 10 ministers, two central bank chiefs and several other top officials.
But conservative MP Hossein Garousi defended the new line-up.
"The nominees are highly educated and they coordinate well with the president," he said. "If we saw people changing (in the existing cabinet), it was because the president is very meticulous when it comes to management."
The confidence vote comes as Iran is gripped in political turmoil after Ahmadinejad's re-election triggered massive street protests which left at least 30 people dead and shook the pillars of the Islamic regime.
Mr Ahmadinejad is under fire from his own hardline camp over several decisions he took soon after his re-election, and many MPs are furious at not being consulted over his cabinet choices.
* AFP
At a glance
Global events: Much of the UK’s economic woes were blamed on “increased global uncertainty”, which can be interpreted as the economic impact of the Ukraine war and the uncertainty over Donald Trump’s tariffs.
Growth forecasts: Cut for 2025 from 2 per cent to 1 per cent. The OBR watchdog also estimated inflation will average 3.2 per cent this year
Welfare: Universal credit health element cut by 50 per cent and frozen for new claimants, building on cuts to the disability and incapacity bill set out earlier this month
Spending cuts: Overall day-to day-spending across government cut by £6.1bn in 2029-30
Tax evasion: Steps to crack down on tax evasion to raise “£6.5bn per year” for the public purse
Defence: New high-tech weaponry, upgrading HM Naval Base in Portsmouth
Housing: Housebuilding to reach its highest in 40 years, with planning reforms helping generate an extra £3.4bn for public finances
NO OTHER LAND
Director: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor, Hamdan Ballal
Stars: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham
Rating: 3.5/5
2019 ASIA CUP POTS
Pot 1
UAE, Iran, Australia, Japan, South Korea, Saudi Arabia
Pot 2
China, Syria, Uzbekistan, Iraq, Qatar, Thailand
Pot 3
Kyrgyzstan, Lebanon, Palestine, Oman, India, Vietnam
Pot 4
North Korea, Philippines, Bahrain, Jordan, Yemen, Turkmenistan
Our legal columnist
Name: Yousef Al Bahar
Advocate at Al Bahar & Associate Advocates and Legal Consultants, established in 1994
Education: Mr Al Bahar was born in 1979 and graduated in 2008 from the Judicial Institute. He took after his father, who was one of the first Emirati lawyers
The rules on fostering in the UAE
A foster couple or family must:
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- not be younger than 25 years old
- not have been convicted of offences or crimes involving moral turpitude
- be free of infectious diseases or psychological and mental disorders
- have the ability to support its members and the foster child financially
- undertake to treat and raise the child in a proper manner and take care of his or her health and well-being
- A single, divorced or widowed Muslim Emirati female, residing in the UAE may apply to foster a child if she is at least 30 years old and able to support the child financially
In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe
Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010
Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille
Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm
Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year
Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”
Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners
TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013
The National in Davos
We are bringing you the inside story from the World Economic Forum's Annual Meeting in Davos, a gathering of hundreds of world leaders, top executives and billionaires.
World ranking (at month’s end)
Jan - 257
Feb - 198
Mar - 159
Apr - 161
May - 159
Jun – 162
Currently: 88
Year-end rank since turning pro
2016 - 279
2015 - 185
2014 - 143
2013 - 63
2012 - 384
2011 - 883
Real estate tokenisation project
Dubai launched the pilot phase of its real estate tokenisation project last month.
The initiative focuses on converting real estate assets into digital tokens recorded on blockchain technology and helps in streamlining the process of buying, selling and investing, the Dubai Land Department said.
Dubai’s real estate tokenisation market is projected to reach Dh60 billion ($16.33 billion) by 2033, representing 7 per cent of the emirate’s total property transactions, according to the DLD.
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Russia's Muslim Heartlands
Dominic Rubin, Oxford
A timeline of the Historical Dictionary of the Arabic Language
- 2018: Formal work begins
- November 2021: First 17 volumes launched
- November 2022: Additional 19 volumes released
- October 2023: Another 31 volumes released
- November 2024: All 127 volumes completed