They Told Rowhani That Majlis Disapproved

In his Eid Fitr sermons this week, the southern city of Zahedan’s influential Sunni Friday prayer leader Molavi AbdolHamid announced that despite their efforts and those of some Majlis representatives to have at least two Sunni members in Iran’s upcoming cabinet, close aides of president Hassan Rowhani had told him that the Majlis opposed the presence of Sunnis in the cabinet.

This desire to exclude Sunnis from the cabinet comes even though, in the words of AbdolHamid, “There are many strong and qualified Sunni individuals for the job.”

“Despite our extensive efforts and those of some Majlis representatives to have at least two individuals with Sunni denominations in the new cabinet, aides close to Mr. Rowhani have been told that the Majlis opposes Sunni members in the cabinet,” he said.

AbdolHamid is an influential cleric among the Sunnis of Sistan and Baluchistan who had been invited to Hassan Rowhani’s inaugural ceremonies in the Majlis. He said Rowhani’s talk at the ceremony was very encouraging.

Rowhani received his highest election votes in the provinces of Sistan and Baluchistan, and Kurdistan, both largely Sunni populated, and has promised in his campaign and after the elections, that he would stress on the rights of minority groups in the country.

In the weeks leading up to Rowhani’s inauguration, lists with possible cabinet names that the new president would present to the Majlis for approval had been circulating and the name of one Sunni nominee has been among them. But Bijan Zolfagharnasab’s name was ultimately not on the list that went to the Majlis.

In his ten-point declaration on his positions regarding Iran’s ethnic and religious minorities, Rowhani had expressly promised that he would put importance on involving  people in the management of the country based on merit and across Iran’s languages and religions. But despite this, AbdolHamid said, “Mr. Rowhani had not promised to have a Sunni cabinet minister but we believe that if he could include one in his cabinet, it would be an honor for Iran and our Shiite brothers, which would also show the world the broad-mindedness of our leaders.” He continued, “Sunni activists had said that Mr. Rowhani should present a Sunni cabinet nominee to the Majlis and should defend his choices, leaving the rest to Majlis which if rejected the nominees would bear the sin.”

Even though there is no legal barrier in the constitution for Sunnis to be present among cabinet members, this minority has till now failed to have a single cabinet minister in the Islamic republic of Iran, founded in 1979.