KHATAMI'S MEA CULPA DID NOT CONVINCE
By an IPS Correspondent
TEHRAN 28 AUG. (IPS) "Until now I had tried to act delicately to reach a
solution through dialogue and consensus (with the ruling conservatives).
Unfortunately, I have not had much success. My repeated warnings over violations
of constitutional rights have gone unheeded. Lately, there is even an attempt to
raise questions about president responsibilities scripted in the
Constitution", Iranian President Hojjatoleslam Mohammad Khatami
acknowledged Wednesday.
""Khatami repeated same old complaints at a time that some of his closest allies are urging him to get out of the job. He also praised the leader who is the flag bearer of violators of the Constitution", one journalist told Iran Press Service.
Speaking during a lengthy press conference packed with Iranian and foreign journalists, the embattled President announced that he would present a bill to the Majles (Iranian parliament) giving the necessary tools to carry out his duties "with more power, according to the Constitution and the wishes of the people".
This was Mr. Khatami’s second press conference since he was re-elected last year, breaking months of silence on widespread imprisonment of his allies as well as dozen of influential journalists, shutting down of 86 newspapers and publications, most of them independent or defending reforms promised by Mr. Khatami, by the Judiciary that is under the direct control of the leader, Ayatollah Ali Khameneh'i.
"God willing, I will be able to fulfil my duties with greater authority and make sure that nothing will be done beyond the Constitution and the will of our people", Mr. Khatami promised, without saying what he would do if the powerful Council of Guardians (CG) do not approve the bill aimed at giving the president more power.
The 12-members Council, half of them, all clerics, appointed by the leader and the rest approved by the cleric, must approve all bills passed by the Majles for conformity with Islamic laws.
Mr. Khatami, who is empowered by the Constitution to see citizens' rights are respected and the Constitution properly implemented, had come under mounting pressure from his allies to speak out and stand firm to the conservatives who curtails his prerogatives and do more to protect the people against abuses by hard-liners.
"The President has two aspects, one is being head of the government and the other responsible of the Constitution. This is in the Constitution and it is upon this Constitution that I have come and my pact with the people is based on it", Mr. Khatami said
But despite being elected with a landslide majority, he always dithered on fears that he might fan the bitter factional row between reformers and conservatives.
He reminded that when the present leader was president, he faced the same situation, but was accorded appropriate powers permitting him to perform effectively, "but this little thing had been denied to em", he pointed out.
He admitted that despite all his efforts to accommodate the conservatives’ trough talks, debates and exchange of views, he was unsuccessful to get the "limited powers the Constitutions gives him".
"Unfortunately, we made no progress. My repeated warnings concerning gross violations of the Constitution were unheard and lately, there were even efforts to scrap this little rights the president enjoys and attempts were made to raise questions about my own duties", he admitted, without saying why he waited so long before confessing.
Khatami noted that public disappointment was on the rise because of his government's failure to implement its promises, but said Iranians were aware of the many obstacles that have hampered his reform program.
Analysts and journalists present at the press conference said immediately after that they doubt Mr. Khatami could meet the growing demands of the people.
"Mr. Khatami was courageous to himself, but he missed the port. He is far from people’s aspirations and seems to ignores that they consider his promised reforms as death and demanding radical changes instead", another journalist commented.
Mr. Khatami also announced that a new bill aimed at revising the electoral laws had been introduced to the Majles, but stop short on giving details about this bill.
Experts and lawmakers said if the bill aims at scrapping the Guardians of their (unconstitutional) "special rights" – to reject or approve any candidate’s competence and credentials – the Guardians would certainly reject the motion.
Mr. Khatami had a veiled and low profile criticism against the judiciary for closing newspapers and jailing journalists or dissidents, saying how come that all charges against the accused are splashed (in public) but not their defence. "How comes that one shut a newspaper which has not even appeared yet"? he asked.
Reformists say hard-liners account for 20 percent of Iran's population but wield 80 percent of the power through un-elected institutions like the judiciary. The hard-liners, supported by Ayatollah Ali Khameneh’i, went on the offensive against Khatami and his allies after losing control of the powerful Majles, in February 2000 legislative elections.
Some suspensions of newspapers, some arrests, and this trial are certainly unacceptable", Khatami told journalists, referring to the jailing in late July of 33 members of the Iran Freedom Movement (IFM), one of Iran’s oldest political religious-based organisation, officially outlawed by the Judiciary last month.
Elsewhere, Khatami warned the US against any military intervention in Iran, saying it would damage not only US interests but also those of the region and the world.
"I warn them against taking action that would be detrimental, because an intervention in Iran would not only affect Iran but would fuel insecurity in the region and everywhere", he said, quoted by the official news agency IRNA.
Two weeks ago, Ayatollah Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani had delivered the same warning to the US, hinting that in case Iran is attacked, Persian Gulf’s oil and gas fields might be set ablaze.
"If attacked, the Iranian people and government stand ready to defend Iran's independence, integrity and interests to the last," he said decisively.
He described the American administration as "extremist and war-mongering", referring to President George W. Bush’s placing the Islamic Republic among "evil states".
"The United States cannot impose on the world what it wants by resorting to such labelling," the president pointed out. He reaffirmed Iran's foreign policy of detente and safeguarding national interests, independence and territorial integrity.
"The policy being pursued by the current US administration is against the national interests of the Americans and will jeopardize US interests", Khatami said. Referring to US labelling of certain nations as axis of evil, the president said that they have miscalculated and there is no good intention behind such labelling.
In a 12 July statement, the American President said he had decided to "abandon" Mr. Khatami, because of his inefficiency and boldness to implement reforms.
Khatami also warned US officials not to attack Iraq. "Even though we have suffered from that country more than any other neighbours in the region, but we are against military intervention in other people’s affairs".
Khatami said nothing on the reported information that Iran’s new Envoy at the United Nations had been instructed to "lobby" for the start of Iran-US dialogue.
According to the usually well-informed internet newspaper "Emrooz", Mr. Mohammad Javad Zarif, the new Ambassador to New York, has been "authorised" by the regime’s "highest authorities" to lobby in that effect and in order to direct the talks and concentrate all activities in one place, former Foreign Affairs Minister Dr. Ali Akbar Velayati, who is now the leader’s special adviser on International Affairs, has set up an office in the United Arab Emirates. ENDS KHTAMI PRESS CONFERENCE 28802