Coll 28/67 ‘Persia. Annual Reports, 1932–’ [‎272r] (543/644)

11
[25481] c 2
on the 3rd March was the beginning of the downfall of that Cabinet and the rise
of Soheily. Similarly, such important questions as the Currency Bills and the
expulsion of the Japanese Legation were first debated in secret sessions. 1 ^e ac
that announcements in the press revealed most of the proceedings of these sec ‘ 1 ^
sessions did not prevent Prime Ministers from frequently resorting to e
expedient; in fact, Soheily hoped, in vain, that by that means he could ben e
Majlis to his will on all controversial matters.
K ' 58. The second general tendency is the increase m the personal power ot the
ohah. Guided by self-seeking courtiers secure from public criticism, the young
Shah, throughout the year, gradually but steadily took a more direct interest m
current affairs. Not only did he assume the powers and authority of an executne
head of the army, but he cultivated relations with certain Deputies of the Majlis,
subsidised certain newspapers, and did his best to secure the resignation o
Qawam-es-Saltaneh during the critical times of the riots J^he o au
9th December, 1942, in spite of the direct advice to the contrary ot His Majesty s
Minister. He criticised the conduct of the highly respected Foroughi as Minister
of Court, and was thought to have brought about the fall of Soheily s Cabinet m
July by refusing the support of the army in the event of popular disorders, it
was perhaps inevitable that at times when the Government of the eountrs was m
a state of chaos the Shah should wish to influence it, but his interventions were
not always wdse, and it gave rise to fears that he might c h ei ^ s 1 a so 11 1S
ambitions like his father. ^The Shah’s attitude to the Allies was, however, most
friendly throughout the year, and there were indications that he would ha\e liked
Persia to enter the war on the Allied side. , ,, -i-
59. It will be convenient to describe the Cabinet changes and the Majlis
developments under three heads :—
(1) Foroughi’s Cabinet, which fell in March;
(2) Soheily’s, which lasted till July; and .
(3) Qawam-es-Saltaneh’s, which began in August and was still in power
at the end of the year.
00 (1) The most important business of Foroughi s Cabinet was the passing
of the Tripartite Treaty. The first reading passed the Majlis early m
January and the second reading, after a great deal of argument on the
26th January, and signature took place three days later. Other matteis dealt
with by the Majlis were : A Bill authorising the payment of increased pensions
to the dependants of Persian soldiers killed in the lighting of the previous
August • a Bill preventing hoarding and profiteering: a Bill regulating the
disposal of the lands of the ex-Shah. Early in February, however, criticisms of
the Cabinet began to appear in the press and in the Majlis, partly owing to
dissatisfaction with the Government’s methods of dealing with economic and
administrative problems, and partly owing to intrigues on behalf of rival candi
dates for ministerial rank. The four possible candidates for the post ox Prime
Minister were Taqizadeh, Tadayyun, Qawam-es-Saltaneh (Ahmed Qawam), and
Seyyid Zia. Apart from that,‘the Minister of the Interior, Marshal Amir
Alimedi, came in for most of the criticism. Finally, all the members of the
Cabinet placed their resignations in the hands of the Prime Minister on the
26th February, and on the 2nd March Foroughi presented a new team of
Ministers, which lasted only a few hours; it included Soheily as Minister foi
Foreign Affairs, Kazemi at the Interior, and Hajhir at the Ministry of Industry
and Commerce. There followed a period of crisis and intrigue : the Deputies
seemed determined to block all Foroughi’s appointments without making any
constructive suggestions of their own. In an effort to placate them, the weary
Prime Minister tried the novel expedient of selecting fourteen Deputies by' lot
to advise him as to the formation of his Cabinet: that came to nothing, and he
resigned. Qawam appears to have been sent for by the Shah, but His Majesty
finally called on Soheily, who by a series of manipulations secured an almost
unanimous vote of confidence in a secret session of the Majlis, and announced
his Cabinet in a public session on the 9th March.
01.—(2) Soheily’s Cabinet consisted of himself as Minister for Foreign
Affairs and Minister of the Interior, Jehanbani as Minister of War, Mahmoud
Bader as Minister of Finance, Mustafa Adi as Minister of Education, Azudi as
Minister of Communications, Ahy as Minister of Justice, Hikmat as Minister of
Health, Hajhir as Minister of Commerce and Industry, Ahmed Hussain Adi as
Minister of Agriculture, and Fazlollah Bahramy as Minister of Posts and
Telegraphs. The new Prime Minister’s programme was a satisfactory catalogue