Ahmadinejad unveils some gender savvy
By Kaveh L Afrasiabi
President Mahmud Ahmadinejad's landmark decision to nominate three women for
cabinet posts in his second administration bodes well for his post-election
promise to usher in a "new era" in Iran.
The choice of three females for top ministerial positions will be interpreted
by critics as a ploy by Ahmadinejad to compensate for any perceived legitimacy
deficit caused by the controversial presidential elections of June. It is also
a clear sign that the government noticed the masses of Iranian women mobilized
by his reformist challengers, chiefly Mir Hossain Mousavi, whose wife, Zahra
Rahnavand, played a key role in bringing attention to women's issues during the
campaigns.
The hardline credentials of two of the nominees - Fatemeh Ajorlou and Marzieh
Vahid Dastjerdi - have led many Iranian feminists to dismiss the significance
of the appointments. Some have pointed
to Ajorlou's poor record on women's rights as a parliamentary deputy.
But such negative assessments miss the point that these women potential
ministers - regardless of their background or loyalties - will represent a
qualitative leap forward with respect to women's rights in Iran.
Compared to the reformist presidency of Mohammad Khatami, who limited himself
to token sub-ministerial posts for women, Ahmadinejad's nomination of three
women (the third has not yet been chosen) is bold. His supporters say the
decision puts him on track to fulfill his post-election promise of "national
unity".
Still, many women, particularly in urban areas, backed other candidates in the
election to show their dissatisfaction with Iran's political status quo.
Ahmadinejad may have an uphill battle if he intends to win over this half of
the Iranian people.
For one thing, he faces a conservative-led parliament, or Majlis, that has
already played a key role in forcing Ahmadinejad to cancel his choice of vice
president, Esfandiar Rahim Mashai, because of the latter's past Israel-friendly
remarks.
Ahmadinejad may have had no choice but to select sufficiently hardline women
who would be acceptable to the majority faction in Majlis, a bloc known as the
Principalists. No matter who he chooses as the third woman, it is believed some
Principalists will try to reduce the three nominees to two, or even one.
In Ahmadinejad's favor, however, is the recent parliamentary initiative to ban
the law on stoning adulterous women to death. The mood in the Majlis may be
sufficiently progressive to accommodate Ahmadinejad's historic nominations - a
move that will appeal to many ordinary Iranian women.
The Majlis speaker, Ali Larijani, prides himself on being an enlightened member
of Iran's Islamist intelligentsia. Larijani may have pre-approved the women's
nomination during a joint committee formed to oversee the cabinet's makeup.
In fact, Ajorlou - nominated for minister of social welfare - may end up much
more "pro-women" than she has been so far as a lawmaker. A wealth of problems
confronts millions of Iranian women, some of which pertain to discriminatory
laws and some to ingrained practices and traditional behavior.
Ajorlou will have the opportunity to support civil-society groups and
organizations focused on women's issues, such as the centers for battered
women. This would conform with the Islamic constitution that stipulates that
"the government must ensure the rights of women in all respects, in conformity
with the Islamic criteria".
And Dastjerdi, tipped as health minister, could make the issue of women's
health a top priority. Experts claim this is an area that requires more
female-friendly legislation, specifically with respect to family planning.
These steps will depend on the willingness of various branches of the
government, such as the judiciary now led by Larijani's brother, Ayatollah
Sadegh Larijani, who has promised to uphold the rights of all citizens. Another
factor will be the ability of Iranian women's groups to lobby for changes in
several discriminatory laws that are scheduled for reconsideration and
potential revision.
Given the failure of reformist ex-president Khatami to elevate the formal
position of women in his government, Ahmadinejad's nomination of three women
for cabinet positions ranks as a full-fledged reformist maneuver. It is clearly
a deft move that defies the image of Ahmadinejad as an anti-reform reactionary.
The president's reformist opponents are now accusing him of "stealing" the
reformists' agenda, this instead of giving credit where many say it is due.
No such credit will be forthcoming to Ahmadinejad if he fails to ensure the
parliamentary approval of his female nominees and then stick with them,
breaking his habit of changing ministers at whim, as he did during his first
term.
The bigger question is whether or not the introduction of female ministers will
address the problem of cabinet instability that has dominated the Ahmadinejad
government for the past four years.
Kaveh L Afrasiabi, PhD, is the author of After Khomeini: New
Directions in Iran's Foreign Policy (Westview Press) . For his Wikipedia entry,
click here. His
latest book,
Reading In Iran Foreign Policy After September 11 (BookSurge Publishing
, October 23, 2008) is now available.
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