Ahmadinejad’s cabinet in trouble?

Iran’s parliament canned Interior Minister Ali Kordan today. While he initially had the backing of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, he never really had a shot at redemption. The vote — 188 to impeach, 14 against and 45 abstained — is a result of evidence that surfaced in August revealing he had forged his Oxford law degree.

But still the call to oust Kordan raised quite a stir — a physical brawl erupted after an aide to Ahmadinejad allegedly attempted to bribe lawmakers into supporting Kordan in the vote.

The aid was later fired, but at first it was unclear how far Ahmadinejad would take his initial refusal to accept the Parliament’s impeachment of Kordan, insisting the move against his ally was “illegal.” Though Ahmadinejad acquiesced, it seems of all this bruhaha could play a significant role in the coming June election.

For that very reason, Ahmadinejad accused parliament of using Kordan to undermine his already shaky standing — caused by his failure to deal with the financial crisis and dropping oil prices. Indeed, opponents are jumping at the president’s newest weak spot and critics are largely calling Kordan’s impeachment a major loss for Ahmadinejad who has already had nine other members of his cabinet removed from office. The Iranian constitution mandates that if half of the cabinet’s members change, the entire cabinet must then be submitted to a new vote. With a 21-member parliament, it will take just one more for this to happen.

In any event, with an emboldened parliament here and an increasing opportunity for new voices to grab a foot hold from now until election time, I see more fatigue ahead for Ahmadinejad. Perhaps Iran is ready for change it can believe in, too.

BEHROUZ MEHRI/AFP/Getty Images