Memoirs of Akbar Hashemi – August 27, 1989

After reading the reports, at eight o'clock in the morning, we went to the parliament with the ministers and deputies to discuss the cabinet, which started today. After the words of Mr. [Mahdi] Karroubi [Chairman of the Islamic Council], I spoke for about fifty minutes about the cabinet and the program, as well as how the consultations were carried out to select these people and replace some ministers. I talked about each of the 22 proposed ministers. I listened to the statements of one of the opponents and one of the supporters. Because there were many requests from the representatives and they didn't let me pay attention to the words, and besides, maybe my presence hindered the clarity of the representatives' accent, so I went back to my office.

The treatment of the representatives was good and friendly. The committed line and the independents announced that they would vote for the entire cabinet, and this angered the radical line, who firstly saw that they have more than half of the cabinet and are afraid to be presented as opposing the cabinet and against the recommendations of the leadership, and on the other hand, they hope that they can overthrow some ministers who are against their line.

I listened to the representatives' statements on the radio until noon. Most of the time was taken by the supporters. The opponents have become clever and wasted their time, and this is one of the weak points of the new revised bylaws.

I had several meetings in the evening. I went to the office of Mr. Mousavi Ardabili. We discussed about his travel and job and future plans. We had a meeting with the leadership at night. There was some discussion about the status of the cabinet and the instructions of the parliament and how the radicals would deal with the message of the leadership. They talked about Mr. Mousavi Ardabili and the new member of the Guardian Council, who was appointed to be Mr. [Gholamreza] Rezvani. I told the UN Secretary General's message about hostages and Americans and my answer. Negotiations were held regarding the issues of the armed forces and economic and foreign policies; These meetings are very useful and effective.