Iranian Parliament has announced plans to impeach the ministers of Agriculture and Industry in reaction to rising prices across the country.
MP Esmail Jalili told the Mehr News Agency on Sunday that 24 signatures have already been collected on a motion to impeach the Minister of Agriculture, Sadegh Khalilian and to get explanations about “the rising price of agricultural and livestock goods.”
He added that the motion to impeach Mehdi Ghazanfari, the Minister of Industry, Mining and Commerce, had already gathered 20 signatures.
“The motion to impeach Mehdi Ghazanfari has been prepared with 20 signatures, and the most important reason for it is his ineffective management of the market and his failure to prevent rising prices.”
House Speaker Ali Larijani has also blamed the administration for the rising price of food and goods in the country due to its mishandling of government-subsidy restructuring.
The Ahmadinejad administration scrapped government subsidies on energy and food staples last year. In their place, the government began a program of monthly cash handouts to help families weather the increased pressure on their household budgets.
Some experts have blamed rising prices on the international sanctions against Iran, which have been ratcheted up in the past year, as the U.S. and the EU took a stronger stance against Iran regarding its nuclear program.
Fathollah Hosseini, another MP, criticized the administration’s performance, saying: “We all know that sanctions have been there since the beginning of the Revolution, and it is not acceptable to blame sanctions for our inability to control the market.”
He added: “The administration has to go the whole nine yards to control the market because the public and its representatives are seriously concerned about this issue.”
According to Iranian parliamentary regulations, a motion to impeach a minister can proceed if it carries the signatures of at least 10 MPs.
