Iran Former President Khatami slashes Gov't progress

Mon, 03 Nov 2008 20:26:13 GMT Former Iranian president Seyyed Mohammad Khatami has questioned the country's success in achieving its longstanding objective of progress.   Khatami said in a visit to the southern province of Bushehr on Monday that the country has distanced itself from its most fundamental objectives, which is to gain technological, social and economic lead in the region.
The former Iranian president, who is an outspoken critic of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, has stepped up his voice against government policies with the country's tenth presidential election approaching in June 2009.   'It is unjustifiable that some with deviant beliefs that only demand the nation's submission recognize themselves as the core of the revolution and repel the people's beliefs,' the former Iranian president argued according to the Fars News Agency.
However, Khatami, who won the presidency in 1997 and 2001 with an overwhelming 20 million and 22 million votes respectively, announced Monday that 'he is personally not interested in running for president in the country's upcoming election.'  Khatami's Monday comments come as earlier in September he criticized the 'aggressive' policies of the current administration, arguing that such policies provide grounds for the enemy to justify its acts against the country. "Aggressive and blistering rhetoric plays into the hands of the enemy, harming the country and the system," Kargozaran newspaper quoted Khatami as saying in September.  Both the Reformists and the Principalists have had popular candidates. In comparison to Khatami's 20 million and 22 million votes the incumbent Principalist President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad won over 17 million votes in the in the second round of elections in 2005.
Since President Ahmadinejad took office in 2005, the Principalists have been more actively involved in the country's political arena and have managed to secure the majority of seats in parliament. CS/MMA, Original source at PressTV