Iranian President Hassan Rouhani appointed two female vice presidents yesterday, but continued to take flak from reformists for nominating no women ministers.
The appointments came a day after Rouhani announced his all-male list of ministers to parliament, seen as a betrayal by reformists who backed his re-election campaign in May.
“It is incredible and shocking that the president has ignored the demands of women in nominating his government,” Parvaneh Salahshouri, head of a parliamentary women’s group, told lawmakers.
A letter calling for female ministers to be appointed was signed by 157 of the 290 members of parliament.
The two women named as vice presidents, who do not require parliamentary approval, were Massoumeh Ebtekar, known internationally for her role as spokesperson during the 1980 US embassy hostage crisis, and Laya Joneydi.
Joneydi was appointed as the vice president for legal affairs, while Ebtekar was named as vice president in charge of women’s affairs, having previously run the environment brief in Rouhani’s office.
Another woman, Shahindokht Mowlaverdi, was named as a special adviser for citizens’ rights.
The ministerial lineup, which must still be approved by the Iranian parliament, also lacked minorities and increased the average age compared with Rouhani’s first term.
“The lack of women ministers shows we are treading water,” Shahindokht Mowlaverdi, Rouhani’s outgoing vice president for women’s affairs, told the Etamad daily after news of the lineup was leaked.
Many on social media said Rouhani was failing to keep his campaign promises of greater diversity.
“The people’s message in the last two elections has had little reflection in the proposed Cabinet,” tweeted Mohammad Karroubi, son of jailed opposition leader Mehdi Karroubi. “How can you speak of equality of the entire nation and ignore women and religious minorities?”
The head of the reformist camp in parliament, Mohammed Reza Aref, also voiced his disappointment.
“We expected at least one woman to be nominated,” he said.
Thousands gathered across New Zealand yesterday to celebrate the signing of the country’s founding document and some called for an end to government policies that critics say erode the rights promised to the indigenous Maori population. As the sun rose on the dawn service at Waitangi where the Treaty of Waitangi was first signed between the British Crown and Maori chiefs in 1840, some community leaders called on the government to honor promises made 185 years ago. The call was repeated at peaceful rallies that drew several hundred people later in the day. “This government is attacking tangata whenua [indigenous people] on all
A colossal explosion in the sky, unleashing energy hundreds of times greater than the Hiroshima bomb. A blinding flash nearly as bright as the sun. Shockwaves powerful enough to flatten everything for miles. It might sound apocalyptic, but a newly detected asteroid nearly the size of a football field now has a greater than 1 percent chance of colliding with Earth in about eight years. Such an impact has the potential for city-level devastation, depending on where it strikes. Scientists are not panicking yet, but they are watching closely. “At this point, it’s: ‘Let’s pay a lot of attention, let’s
The administration of US President Donald Trump has appointed to serve as the top public diplomacy official a former speech writer for Trump with a history of doubts over US foreign policy toward Taiwan and inflammatory comments on women and minorities, at one point saying that "competent white men must be in charge." Darren Beattie has been named the acting undersecretary for public diplomacy and public affairs, a senior US Department of State official said, a role that determines the tone of the US' public messaging in the world. Beattie requires US Senate confirmation to serve on a permanent basis. "Thanks to
UNDAUNTED: Panama would not renew an agreement to participate in Beijing’s Belt and Road project, its president said, proposing technical-level talks with the US US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Sunday threatened action against Panama without immediate changes to reduce Chinese influence on the canal, but the country’s leader insisted he was not afraid of a US invasion and offered talks. On his first trip overseas as the top US diplomat, Rubio took a guided tour of the canal, accompanied by its Panamanian administrator as a South Korean-affiliated oil tanker and Marshall Islands-flagged cargo ship passed through the vital link between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. However, Rubio was said to have had a firmer message in private, telling Panama that US President Donald Trump
RSS