Parliamentary debates over the new cabinet started on Sunday with President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad delivering a speech in the chamber in defense of his proposed ministers.
According to the law, the president is given the first two and half hours to defend his cabinet line-up, which for the first time since the 1979 Islamic Revolution includes three women among the 21 nominees.
In his speech Ahmadinejad praised the people for their “epic turnout in the elections“ and said the voters had endorsed the path he had followed during his first term, Presstv reported.
He said his new administration is ready to serve the masses and that achieving great objectives demands “courage“.

Plan of Action
On his plan of action for the next four years, the president said that he would strive to promote security and stability in the country, extend support for households and create grounds for the active participation of women in politics and other social arenas.
He singled out the draught and disproportionate distribution of wealth as the root causes of the weak economy and said that his government would work to eradicate them.
On energy, Ahmadinejad said his priority is to reduce oil and gas exports and privatize the water and electricity sectors.
Challenging “global arrogance“ is on the agenda, he noted, and added that his foreign policy would focus on improve relations with the comity of nations with the exception of Israel.
In defense of his team, he said they all have “a clean record“, and are “highly educated and competent people“.
In support of the three woman nominees, who are unlikely to win parliamentary support, he said “their presence would boost the confidence of the Iranian women“.
According to IRNA, following the president’s speech, the Majlis started its debate on the government’s program and the composition of the cabinet. Ten MPs were due to speak -- five proponents and five opponents. Each lawmaker has only 15 minutes of speaking time.
The president and/or his representative answered questions raised by the opponent legislators.
The nominees, most of whom are unknown, must brief the parliament on their plans in the course of the three days of debates that will end on Tuesday.

Evaluation Criteria
Hamid Reza Fouladgar, a lawmaker, said that the parliamentarians are “obliged to evaluate the credentials of the ministers in the interest of the people.“
Fouladgar, who is a member of the Majlis Industry and Mining Commission added that a possible “vote of no confidence to a nominee, ultimately, would be in the wellbeing of the tenth government,“ IRNA reported.
His remark came a day after Ahmadinejad urged Parliament to “leave the issue of his government’s efficiency to himself.“ He called on the lawmakers to only “examine the general competence“ of the ministers.

A suicide attack in the main town in Pakistan’s northwestern Swat Valley Sunday left 14 policemen dead, officials said, a month after the army claimed the area had been cleared of Taliban.
“The policemen were being given training in Mingora town when a suicide bomber entered the ground and blew himself up near the recruits, killing 14 of them,“ Swat police chief Qazi Ghulam Farooq told AFP.
A senior administration official, Ateef-ur-Rehman, confirmed the attack and said there were a number of casualties, adding police had been put on high alert against more attacks.
Another local senior police official, Mohammad Idrees, said that a curfew had been imposed in Mingora, adding troops and police were patrolling the town and people quickly shut their businesses in fear of more bombings.
It was the first major attack in Mingora since the military claimed last month to have cleared the valley of Taliban militants, paving the way for residents who had fled the area to avoid the fighting to begin returning home.
Pakistan in April launched a punishing military offensive against the Taliban in the northwest, targeting the rebels in the districts of Swat, Buner and Lower Dir after the militants advanced closer to the capital Islamabad.
The push forced 1.9 million civilians from their homes, most seeking refuge with relatives and the rest packing into refugee camps, creating a humanitarian crisis for impoverished Pakistan.
Pakistan says more than 1,930 militants and over 170 security personnel have been killed in the offensive, but the death tolls are impossible to verify independently.

Yemen said on Sunday it had killed a leader of northern Houthis as the air force continued to attack targets in Saada province, where rights groups say tens of thousands have been displaced.
Yemen, an impoverished state of some 23 million people on the tip of the Arabian Peninsula, is battling the rebellion of Shiite opposition in the mountainous north bordering Saudi Arabia, Reuters reported.
A government statement quoting a military official said the opposition leader, Ahmed Jaran, was an explosives expert and was killed in Bani Muadh district.
“The air force directed hits at rebel hideouts in Saqin, Yasnam, Sudan, Al-Ind and Maran in Saada province,“ it said.

Conflicting Claims
It said 300 tons of aid, including food, blankets and medicines was heading from Sanaa to help the displaced. Aid groups have complained of poor access to the war zone.
More than 100,000 people, many of them children, have fled their homes during the recent surge in fighting, a UN agency said this month.
There was no comment from the opposition fighters, lead by Abdul-Malik Al-Houthi, and there has been no way of independently confirming conflicting claims from each side over the fighting since the government has closed the region to media.
The government has said it killed this month three people described as leaders among the fighters.
Yemeni forces have used air strikes, tanks and artillery in an offensive described by officials as an attempt to crush the revolt which first began in 2004. Officials claim Shiite Zaydi fighters want to restore a Shiite state overthrown in the 1960s.
The Shiites want Zaydi schools in their area, they oppose the spread of Saudi-influenced Sunni fundamentalism and say they are defending their villages against government oppression. Houthis say Saudi Arabia is helping the government to increase its crackdown on the Shiites.