Baku, Azerbaijan, Aug. 12
By Umid Niayesh - Trend:
Hardliner Iranian MPs have collected signatures to impeach minister of Science, Technology and Research, Reza Faraji Dana.
The request for impeachment of Faraji Dana which was earlier signed by 51 members of the parliament was officially announced by parliament speaker, Ali Larijani in a public session on Aug. 12, Iran's Mehr news agency reported.
Some MPs will question the minister and depending on his response, parliamentarians will decide to give him a new vote of confidence or he will be dismissed.
According to the Iran's constitution, the impeachment motion should have at least ten signatures on it before it can be delivered to the parliament's presiding board. The minister must appear in parliament to answer MPs' questions within 10 days after the receipt of the motion, and then the impeachment motion will be put to a vote.
Signatories and Faraji Dana held several meetings to try to avoid impeachment but without results and the impeachment was finally introduced to the floor.
During the last meeting on Aug. 9, Faraji Dana refused to accept hardliners' requests.
The MPs' chief demand was reportedly the re-expulsion of students who had been marked for their political activity under the former administration and banned from continuing their education. They also have called for the expulsion of persons who involved in the 2009 protests against the disputed presidential elections.
The hardliners also are dissatisfied with cancelling the scholarships of certain PhD students with links to the former administration which were granted illegally by the former government.