In August 2009 when Ahmadinejad first proposed his list of nominees to run various ministries, he insisted on having Ali Abadi, one of his close political allies in the cabinet, but at the same time he was worrying about a negative response from the Majlis (Parliament) to his appointment.
His concern was not baseless, since as a manager in sports affairs, vice president in charge of physical education who later became the head of Iran's Olympics Committee, and former head of the fishery organization, Ali Abadi was not seen qualified for the post.
Ali Abadi had two choices for joining the cabinet: first, recruiting oil ministry as a subordinate to Mas'oud Mir-Kazemi, and second, to be a substitute for the Energy Minister, Parviz Fattah.
He didn't accept the first option and refused to be overshadowed by the former Minister of Commerce, then in the Oil Ministry, since he himself expected to become Oil Minister.
However despite all warnings, Ali Abadi went to the Majlis as energy minister nominee but ended up being one of the three candidates who were judged unqualified by the Parliament. He lost by a narrow margin of 12 votes and failed to win the lawmakers' vote of confidence.
Ali Abadi had two options for joining the cabinet: first, recruiting oil ministry as a subordinate to Mas'oud Mir-Kazemi, and second, to be a substitute for the energy minister, Parviz Fattah.
He didn't accept the first option and refused to be overshadowed by the former Minister of Commerce, then in the Oil Ministry, since he himself expected to become Oil Minister. However despite all warnings, Ali Abadi went to the Majlis as energy minister nominee but ended up being one of the three candidates for ministries who were judged unqualified by the Parliament.
Subsequently negotiations were held to join Ali Abadi to the team of Mir-Kazemi but to no avail, since the latter had set conditions for his recruitment into the Oil Ministry which put the former behind closed doors.
But before negotiations come to a result, the issue of the appointment of Ali Abadi as the managing director of National Iranian Oil Refining and Distribution Company (NIORDC) was reflected in the press which caused Mir-Kazemi to be discontent.
At that moment Mir-Kazemi set conditions for approving Ali Abadi as the managing director of NIORDC, the conditions which practically would dispossess Ali Abadi of his independence in decision-making and playing the role of "the shadow minister.
Finally when Mir-Kazemi conditioned Ali Abadi's recruitment to the company on his own resignation from Oil Ministry, Ahmadinejad changed his decision and finally Qal'eh Bani, a close aide of Esfandiar Rahim Mashaei, the controversial Ahmadinejad's top adviser and his right-hand man was appointed as the managing director of NIORDC.
In March, Ahmadinejad relieved Minister of Welfare and Social Security Sadeq Mahsouli, Minister of Mines and Industries Ali Akbar Mehrabian and Mir-Kazemi of their duties in line with the Article 53 of the Fifth Development Plan.
Based on the Fifth Five-year Development Plan which was scheduled to be implemented from 2010 to 2015, the Iranian administration should limit the number of its ministries form 21 to 17 and officially improve the efficiency of the government.
On May after relieving Mir-kazemi, Ahmadinejad temporarily assumed the responsibilities for an interim period in a reshuffle of the cabinet.
Decisions have already been made to merge the Oil Ministry into the Ministry of Energy as part of a cabinet reduction plan. But lawmakers condemned Ahmadinejad's occupation as the caretaker of the Oil Ministry and saw his move as a violation of the Islamic Republic's constitution.
From some time ago when Ali Abadi began to accompany Ahmadinejad in his visits to oil industry sites including the inauguration ceremony of Abadan's Refinery as speculations over his new post in oil industry organizations were fueled, although they were mostly about Ali Abadi's appointment as the managing director of NIORDC but after almost two years he was finally elected as the Oil Minister in a decree issued by the President.
The decree reads: "Considering your commitment, knowledge, and useful executive experience, in accordance with Article 135 of the constitution of the Islamic Republic of Iran, and based on this decree, you [Mohammad Ali Abadi] are appointed as acting Oil Minister."
However, the Majlis expressed its disapproval of the decision: "This is the worst choice for the oil and gas industry, and such decisions endanger the country," head of the Majlis energy commission Hamid Reza Katouzian earlier said.
Katouzian added that Ali Abadi has no experience or expertise in the oil and gas fields, state-run satellite channel Press TV reported.
"A minister who wants to manage the Oil Ministry must know the ropes ... he must be familiar with production and the problems in this industry, and know the international situation, but Mr. Ali Abadi has none of these qualifications," the lawmaker said.
The Majlis has successfully proved that it should have the final say on cabinet reshuffle. In the meantime a number of lawmakers have criticized the disappearance of a ministry which provides nearly 80 percent of Iran's annual earnings.
However by the time the bill for merging the two miniseries will be ready to be submitted to the Parliament, Ali Abadi will be running the Ministry of Oil.
As Mohammad Reza Mir Taj-e Dini, the vice president for parliamentary affairs announced that the government needs three months to submit the bill, but the analysts stress that in the best possible condition, it won't happen before the end of the autumn. For the moment, Ali Abadi will be definitely serve as the caretaker of Iran's Oil Ministry.
According to Shana, the news website of Iran's Oil Ministry, Ali Abadi has arrived in Vienna to attend the 159th ministerial meeting of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) on Wednesday.
Iran is the second major oil producer in the organization after Saudi Arabia and currently holds OPEC's rotating presidency.
نظر شما