PRESIDENT KHATAMI CONFIRMS HE (ALMOST) SAVED THE REGIME
By Safa Haeri, IPS Editor
PARIS 12 Mar. (IPS) The Mountain laid a mouse", was the first commentaries of many Iranian analysts inside and outside the country about the much-expected speech pronounced Sunday in the Majles (parliament) by the Iranian President Hojjatoleslam Mohammad Khatami.
"Mr. Khatami seemed to be more anxious to please to the conservatives than to satisfy his own base, meaning the students, the youngsters and the women, all expecting him to take a firm stand and identify his foes, those who created one crisis every nine days for him, as he himself admitted", observed Mr. Sadeq Saba, BBC’s senior commentator of Iranian affairs.
In his two-hours long speech that was interrupted by warm applauses from the reformists, Mr. Khatami again repeated that under present Constitution, the President was powerless, that he faces plenty and various obstacles and difficulties, but he offered no solutions.
He also surprised many observers by defending at length the present Constitution, insisting that the velayat faqih, a basically dictatorial concept proper to the Shi’a Islam was compatible with democracy, and this while many of his close religious reformers have reached the conclusion than the two were basically irreconcilable.
Explaining the reason why he refuses to spell out his problems with his hard-line foes, the President said "No servant is allowed to cause tension in the country by revealing the worries he is faced with".
"I admit that I have not revealed all my worries in the society not out of
personal foresight, but because of national interests", Khatami said,
without explaining them, as many Iranians expected, the official news agency IRNA
reported.
"I have always been privy to the problems and sufferings of the Iranian
nation and have suffered from them," he added.
Some analysts said knowing Mr. Khatami’s character, the speech they heard
Sunday was "exactly" what they would expect of him.
"Khatami is not a fighter. If he avoid to enumerate the crisis he suffers from the conservatives, he could start a big crisis just days before the Iranian New Year, one that he wants to be celebrated by the Iranians in traditional way, as seen by the number of articles the official news agency carried in the past few days on the event, its past, traditions, history etc", observed Mr. Ahmad Salamatian, a Paris-based political analyst.
Though the exercise was mostly filled with previously heard complaints and was less punchy than recent speeches, for instance the one he revealed that his since he took power almost four year ago, his government faced one crisis every nine days, yet it also contained some warnings to his conservative foes by telling them if he fails and the regime with him, it would have been their responsibility.
In fact and repeatedly, Mr. Khatami told the conservatives that it is thanks to him that they still enjoy power and advantages, for it was he who almost saved the regime from chaos and international isolation when he took over.
Observers said the reason Mr. Khatami deliberately unclear about whether he would seek another mandate on 8 June was to place the hard-liners to choose their camp after having assured them that the reforms he wants to apply are within the framework of the present Constitution that give the vali faqih, or the leader, in the present case Ayatollah Ali Khameneh’i, ultra-constitutional powers, placing him above all laws.
He also slammed both his hard-line critics and advocates of a transition to a more secular government, observing that the Iranian people seek moderation. "They neither support hard-line critics of his policies nor are they considering an alternative that would replace the Islamic system", he said, warning against those who, "profiting from the open climate, and now openly questions the whole of the Islamic system and talk of separating the state from the religion", he noted.
"I call on all wise men of every walk to resist this trend", he said in remarks that analysts said would annoy many young ones, particularly students and reformists who more and call for a referendum to decide on the future of the regime.
"As long as people want me, I will continue to serve, with the thought
that I can move forward in the face of all problems", Mr. Khatami said,
adding: "If and when this feeling within me ceases, I would rather serve
the people and the Islamic Revolution in another post".
Pausing as a real democrat, Mr. Khatami deplored the closure by the Judiciary
last week of "Harim", a conservative weekly on charge of defaming him,
but had not a single word for the dozen jailed reformist journalists, most of
them his closest allies, and the 30 independent and reform seeking publications
shut down on orders from Mr. Khameneh’i, the regime’s leader.
He, however, made it clear that he did not intend to interfere in the
internal affairs of the judiciary.
Despite his failure to implement many of the political, economic, social and
political reforms he promised in 1997, Mr. Khatami remains the most popular
candidate for the next presidential election Khatami won the presidency by a
landslide on May 23, 1997, obtaining over 20 million votes or 69 percent of the
total votes.
Observers said thought they think the speech was one of a campaigner, yet they
felt he deliberately choose to perpetuate the expectations.
Director General of the official news agency IRNA that supports Mr. Khatami said seventy-nine percent of Iranians want Khatami to run again but 64 percent would vote for him if he does
Mohammad-Reza Khatami, the younger brother of the President and the leader of the largest fraction in the reformist-dominated Majles interpreted his brother’s Sunday speech as indicating his willingness to seek a new mandate and revealed at the same time that a bill giving the President more powers would land on the Majles soon.
Informed sources said Mr. Khatami has prepared a 130-pages report containing all the regime’s shortcomings and bottlenecks he is about to send to the leader, with part of it expected to be released to the public.
Despite his failure to make good on many of his campaign promises due to the pressures from his detractors, Khatami seems to remain a shoo-in for next election if he decides to run.
The speech had however some "firsts", as it was the first time that a President chose the parliament to address the people, as it was the first time that lawmakers applauded the speech instead of the "Allaho Akbar" that, since the Islamic revolution of 1979 had replaced such western attitudes and finally he got a standing ovation at the end of his speech. ENDS KHATAMI MAJLES SPEECH 12301