Motori
05-16-2009, 09:16 PM
By Ladane Nasseri
May 12 (Bloomberg) -- Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei urged Iranians to vote for a “people’s” candidate in the June 12 presidential election, hinting at his support for Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who has called himself a servant of the people.
The president should be “someone who understands people’s woes, who is amicable with the population, who stays away from corruption,” the highest authority in the Islamic republic said, speaking from Sanandaj, the capital of Iran’s Kurdistan province.
President Ahmadinejad, who was elected in 2005, has referred to himself as a “servant” of the people, promising to fight corruption and distribute the country’s oil wealth among the poorest Iranians. Ahmadinejad last week registered to stand in next month’s election saying he is “prepared to serve the people.”
“I am not giving my opinion on individuals,” Khamenei said today in a speech aired live by broadcasters from the western city. “Try and choose the most competent candidate.”
“We need to elect officials who are a man of the people, who have a modest life,” Khamenei told a gathering.
Parvin Ahmadinejad, the president’s sister and a member of Tehran City Council, has started helping Ahmadinejad’s campaign for re-election by attending electoral meetings and talking about his qualities, Iranian media reported.
Earthquake Walk
In a gathering earlier this month, she described how her brother walked to visit areas of northwestern Iran hit by an earthquake when the roads weren’t passable by car, and how he reprimanded her for using a government vehicle amid heavy rain to return home after a funeral.
Ahmadinejad has sought to convey the image of an accessible president by regularly touring Iran’s 30 provinces, saying his government needs to be familiar with local needs.
Meanwhile he has stoked tensions with the West by pressing on with a nuclear development program, which his government presents as a source of national pride.
The U.S. and several major allies claim the program is a cover for weapons development while Iran, under three sets of United Nations Security Council sanctions for its refusal to halt uranium enrichment, says the program is peaceful and intended to generate electricity.
Former prime minister Mir Hossein Mousavi, ex-parliament speaker Mehdi Karrubi and a former head of the Revolutionary Guards Corps, Mohsen Rezai, are likely to be Ahmadinejad’s main challengers in the contest. All three have criticized the president for what they call his economic mismanagement and his confrontational rhetoric over the nuclear program.
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aNC5a0bGs_dY&refer=home
May 12 (Bloomberg) -- Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei urged Iranians to vote for a “people’s” candidate in the June 12 presidential election, hinting at his support for Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who has called himself a servant of the people.
The president should be “someone who understands people’s woes, who is amicable with the population, who stays away from corruption,” the highest authority in the Islamic republic said, speaking from Sanandaj, the capital of Iran’s Kurdistan province.
President Ahmadinejad, who was elected in 2005, has referred to himself as a “servant” of the people, promising to fight corruption and distribute the country’s oil wealth among the poorest Iranians. Ahmadinejad last week registered to stand in next month’s election saying he is “prepared to serve the people.”
“I am not giving my opinion on individuals,” Khamenei said today in a speech aired live by broadcasters from the western city. “Try and choose the most competent candidate.”
“We need to elect officials who are a man of the people, who have a modest life,” Khamenei told a gathering.
Parvin Ahmadinejad, the president’s sister and a member of Tehran City Council, has started helping Ahmadinejad’s campaign for re-election by attending electoral meetings and talking about his qualities, Iranian media reported.
Earthquake Walk
In a gathering earlier this month, she described how her brother walked to visit areas of northwestern Iran hit by an earthquake when the roads weren’t passable by car, and how he reprimanded her for using a government vehicle amid heavy rain to return home after a funeral.
Ahmadinejad has sought to convey the image of an accessible president by regularly touring Iran’s 30 provinces, saying his government needs to be familiar with local needs.
Meanwhile he has stoked tensions with the West by pressing on with a nuclear development program, which his government presents as a source of national pride.
The U.S. and several major allies claim the program is a cover for weapons development while Iran, under three sets of United Nations Security Council sanctions for its refusal to halt uranium enrichment, says the program is peaceful and intended to generate electricity.
Former prime minister Mir Hossein Mousavi, ex-parliament speaker Mehdi Karrubi and a former head of the Revolutionary Guards Corps, Mohsen Rezai, are likely to be Ahmadinejad’s main challengers in the contest. All three have criticized the president for what they call his economic mismanagement and his confrontational rhetoric over the nuclear program.
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aNC5a0bGs_dY&refer=home