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Rouhani’s woes mount as Iran economy minister impeached
TEHRAN, Aug 26, 2018 (BSS/AFP) – Iran’s parliament impeached Economy Minister
Masoud Karbasian on Sunday in the latest blow to embattled President Hassan
Rouhani as he struggles to face down a mounting economic crisis.
Karbasian is the second cabinet minister to be sacked this month, following
the impeachment of Labour Minister Ali Rabiei on August 8.
Critics say the government squandered the opportunities presented by the
2015 nuclear deal and have failed to tackle high rates of inflation and
joblessness.
With the United States abandoning the nuclear deal in May and reimposing
sanctions, Rouhani’s hopes of attracting vast sums of foreign investment
appear dead in the water.
Major European firms, including France’s Total, Peugeot and Renault, and
Germany’s Siemens and Daimler, have all announced their departure since the
US announcement.
Rouhani’s conservative opponents — who long-opposed his outreach to the
West and efforts to improve civil liberties — say the primary blame lies
with government corruption and mismanagement.
“Inefficiency and lack of planning have nothing to do with sanctions,” said
one lawmaker, Abbas Payizadeh, in a speech ahead of the vote.
“Wrong decisions have harmed the people and led to individuals looting
public assets,” he added.
Rouhani, a political moderate, can still count on the support of a sizeable
reformist bloc in parliament, but even some of its key figures have grown
disillusioned.
“What have we done with this nation? We made them miserable and wretched,”
said Elias Hazrati, of the reformist Hope faction in parliament.
“The middle class are moving towards poverty,” added Hazrati, who broke
ranks to vote in favour of the impeachment.
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Karbasian lost the vote of confidence, which was carried live on state radio,
by 137 votes to 121, with two abstentions.
The outcome sees him stripped of his post with immediate effect, leaving
Rouhani to pick a replacement.
– ‘We are not prepared’ –
Hazrati said the government had failed to plan for the real pain of
sanctions, which will hit when a second phase of US measures is reintroduced
in November targeting Iran’s crucial oil sector.
“We haven’t been prepared and we are not prepared now,” said Hazrati.
“The only person we could get our hands on was the economy minister.
Otherwise, the president should have been impeached,” he added.
For now, Rouhani remains protected by supreme leader Ayatollah Ali
Khamenei, who said this month that removing the president would “play into
the hands of the enemy”.
But parliament has summoned the president for the first time to answer
questions on the crisis, and he is expected to appear on Tuesday.
One of the key markers of Iran’s economic crisis has been the collapse in
the currency, which has lost around half its value since April.
That was partly owing to US hostility, but also due to a disastrous
decision to fix the value of the rial and shut down currency traders. The
move triggered a boom in the black market and widespread corruption, before
the decision was finally reversed this month.
Business people in Iran point to other deep-rooted problems, from the debt-
ridden banking sector to the outsized and opaque role of military-linked
organisations in the economy.
Rouhani has taken small steps to resolve these issues, but most Iranians
are dissatisfied with his progress.
There have been persistent, low-level strikes and demonstrations across the
country for months over high prices and unpaid wages that have occasionally
turned into violent protests against the system as a whole.
Figures released by the central bank on Saturday showed huge jumps in the
cost of essential goods compared with a year ago.
Dairy products are up by a third, chicken by more than 20 percent and fresh
fruit by 71 percent.
BSS/AFP/SR/1715 HRS