In Iran, Ahmadinejad's bold gambits boost presidential power.(President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad)(WORLD)

Byline: Scott Peterson Staff writer of The Christian Science Monitor

TEHRAN, IRAN -- Far larger than life, images of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad fill screens perched above Iran's cavernous parliament chamber where the archconservative president has come to make a pitch for his two new ministerial choices.

The replacements are "pious men" and it's his right as "coach of the team" to make adjustments, he tells the lawmakers.

The legislators offer exasperated criticism about the president's endless supply of new candidates - he has seeded like-minded ideologues at all levels of government - and his easy readiness to topple ministers. But on this day last month, they relent.

No Iranian president in recent memory has faced so much scathing and frequent attack from so many Iranian factions, or created so many powerful enemies, over issues that range from his imperious management style and eclectic economic policies, to snooty gibes from elite critics about lack of "intellectualism," analysts say.

But despite the criticism, Mr. Ahmadinejad's bold political moves have succeeded in increasing the power of his office, turning it into a post with more influence and power than at any time since Iran's 1979 Islamic revolution.

"Ahmadinejad just broke all the rules," says an Iranian journalist who asked not to be…