Coll 28/67 ‘Persia. Annual Reports, 1932–’ [‎284v] (568/644)

resigned and, after carrying on practically single-handed for some days, the
Prime Minister presented a new Cabinet to the Majlis in the third week in
January. It was composed as follows :—
Minister without Portfolio : Ibrahim Hakimi.
War : Marshal Amir Ahmedi.
Education : Ali Akbar Siassi.
Industry and Commerce : Abdul Hussein Hajhir. ^
Agriculture : Ahmed Adle.
Food : Mehdi Farrukh.
Foreign Affairs : Mohammed Saed.
Justice : Jawad Amery.
Finance : Allahyar Saleh.
Interior; Farajullah Bahramy.
Posts and Telegraphs : Muhsin Rais.
Roads : Hi Motamedy.
Health : Nasrullah tntizam.
The last three were the Shah's nominees and were relatively young men,
without previous Cabinet experience. Early in February the Cabinet showed
signs of disintegrating owing to internal dissension and the Prime Minister’s
treatment of the press, but he managed to obtain a vote of confidence by a small
majority. His position vis-a-vis the Majlis was becoming hopeless. In a
desperate attempt to appease the Deputies he tabled Bills (a) to abrogate the
fundamental law that no Deputy might become a Cabinet Minister, and (b) to
give to the Majlis powers over the appointment of the head of the National Bank.
These measures merely gave rise to acrimonious comment, and when the Shah’s
sympathies were alienated by the Prime Minister's declaration that, in order
to establish the authority of the people, the Constitution should be revised, and
by his legitimate attempt to curb the Shah’s control of the army and the General
Staff, it became evident that the game was up and Qawam-es-Saltaneh resigned.
62. Soheily was the next Prime Minister, and on the 21st February the
following Cabinet received a unanimous vote of confidence from the Majlis :—
Prime Minister and Minister of the Interior : Ali Soheily.
Commerce and Industry : Mahmoud Bader.
War : Marshal Amir Ahmedi.
Communications : Abdul Hussein Hajhir.
Justice : Ali Asghar Hikmat.
Foreign Affairs : Mohammed Saed.
Finance : Allahyar Saleh.
Education : Ali Akbar Siassi.
Posts and Telegraphs : Nasrullah Intizam.
Health : Amanullah Ardelan.
Ministers without Portfolio : Mohammed Tadayyun and Hussein SarniJ.
63. Such a team seemed the best available in the circumstances, with the
possible exception of the Prime Minister. The programme of the Cabinet
included the supply of food, the stabilisation of prices, the improvement of the
welfare of the peasants, the workers and Government employees, and co-operation
with the Allies. Tadayyun, an experienced Majlis debater, was appointed
Minister of Food in March, and Ettebar, a Majlis Deputy, became Minister of
Agriculture a fortnight later. The Prime Minister managed to curb the excesses
of the press, largely as a result of representations from this legation. The
offences for which newspapers might be suppressed were also re-defined and eleven
organs of the press were actually suppressed. The Bill defining Dr. Millspaugh’s
powers was proceeded with in spite of agitation against it, as expressed by the
closing of the bazaars. However, the whole effect of this show of firmness was
ruined by the Prime Minister declaring in secret session that such action had
been forced on him by the British.
64. As a result of a dispute between the Minister of Finance and the
American advisers, the former resigned and was replaced at the end of April by
an elderly Majlis Deputy, Murteza Quli Bayat, The Government survived with
a large majority an interpellation in the Majlis in May challenging the legality
of the appointment of the Majlis Deputies, Ettebar and Bayat as Ministers, as
well as the right of the Government to transfer their authority under the Military
Governor Law to the Minister of War and to interpret in their own way a section
of that law. The Government victory was alleged to be due to the fact that
there was no obvious successor to Soheily. Strikes of engineers and professors,