Media Charge 'Managerial Genocide' At Iran Labor Ministry

In a major purging operation dubbed by Iranian media as a "managerial genocide" populist Labor Minister Hojjat Abdolmaleki says he will fire 1,000 managers.

Abdolmaleki, himself under fire by the Iranian parliament (Majles) for "incompetence" has made many controversial comments during the past six months and has been involved in more controversies by what he did or failed to do.

He started his work as minister last August by promising to create 750,000 jobs at low cost during his first year in office, but after a few weeks he claimed that creating jobs is not part of his responsibilities. Later he had to distance himself from another controversial comment about manufacturing low-price versions of the Italian luxury sportscar Lamborghini in Iran. He even told Iranians to resize the doors of their garages to make them suitable for the new cars.

Abdolmaleki was the first cabinet minister in the President Ebrahim Raisi administration whom lawmakers decided to impeach, but Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf temporarily saved him by postponing the procedure for six months.

Now, according to Sazandegi newspaper, Abdolmaleki, a former TV show host, says he has sent 1,120 corruption cases to the court, adding that most of these managers have been charged with financial corruption.

Abdolmaleki is not alone among Raisi aides who are labelled as unfit for senior positions, but hardliners with little experience have dominated the president’s roster of nominees.

According to Aftab News, major purging operations in the administrative system in Iran started in 1981, two years after the establishment of the Islamic Republic, when the Planning and Budget Organization fired at least 750 experts. Later in the same year, the Iranian Oil Ministry fired 2,900 of its employees.

Reformist daily Etemad wrote that since Abdolmaleki was nominated, a catalogue of worrying news about his controversial decisions, behavior, comments and appointments have found their way into the press. The daily stated that concerns caused by the minister's decisions and actions have been so serious that both President Ebrahim Raisi and Vice President Mohammad Mokhber have warned him to avoid adding to the government's problems.

Regardless of the warnings by his superiors Abdolmaleki has been constantly creating new controversies including asking the State Administrative and Employment Organization to approve the employment of 12 of his friends regardless of regulations that preclude their hiring.

According to Etemad, not only Abdolmaleki lacks practical experience and academic credentials, but he also seems to be adamant to repeat his errant behavior.

Abdolmaleki has also been criticized for giving top jobs to the relatives of other officials particularly the members of the ultraconservative Paydari Party. The media in Iran say that the purging operation at the ministry is partly intended to cover up these actions.

Aftab news wrote that the firing of more than half of the labor ministry's managers will cause problems for its subsidiary offices including the Pension Fund and will badly affect businesses and several state-owned companies.

Lawmaker Naser Musavi Largani accused Abdolmaleki of being biased against around 1,200 managers who have graduate degrees. Largani also charged that Abdolmaleki has distributed the ministry's resources among his friends like the spoils of war.

Meanwhile, the Iranian press accused Abdolmaleki of appointing one of his wife's friends as the chief inspector at the ministry. The media charged that this inspector has fabricated cases against the managers Abdolmaleki wanted to fire. Aftab News called on Iran's Public Prosecutor to act. The website reminded that if there were more than 1,000 corrupt managers at the ministry the intelligence agencies and the State Auditing Organization would have certainly known about them.