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Iranian Minister Says Khatami to Seek Re-election
Iranian Interior Minister Musavi Lari said Tuesday that President Mohammad Khatami will certainly run for a second term in the eighth presidential election slated for June 8.
"If Khatami did not intend to seek another mandate in the next presidential election, he would not have made any cabinet shake- up," Lari was quoted by the Islamic Republic News Agency as saying at a press conference.
The minister was referring to Khatami's recent restructuring of his cabinet, including the merger of four ministries into two and the reappointment of two ministers.
The president is expected to take further moves next week to make the cabinet more efficient.
Lari's statement followed that of vice Parliament Speaker Mohammad Reza Khatami, who denied Monday media reports that President Khatami had decided to stay away from the next presidential election.
Reza Khatami, brother of President Khatami, said those reports were completely baseless, adding that he was sure the president had not made any remarks about his withdrawal from the election.
Reform-minded Khatami was elected president on May 23, 1997 for a four-year term which ends in August this year.
In late July last year, he made known his intention to run for a second term and said he would come up with an even "more developed program for reforms."
But he later became "undecided" because of heavy pressures from the conservatives as well as disunity of the reformist camp.
The conservatives said Khatami has failed to solve the country's economic problems such as high inflation and unemployment rate, while some reformers are also disappointed with him for his weakness in the face of the conservative crackdown on the reformist movement.
The conservative crackdown has escalated since reformers won control of the parliament in February's election. So far more than 25 reformist publications have been closed and at least one dozen reformist journalists imprisoned by the conservative judiciary.
Khatami complained, however, that he has no real power and lacks the necessary tools for enforcing the constitution and carrying out his reform programs, which were promised when he took office in 1997.
Whether Khatami will run for a second term has been a mystery recently. But analysts believe that he is still the most popular political figure in Iran and if he announces his decision for a second term, no other candidate, conservative or reformist, has any chance to win.
So far, only Farah Khosravi, head of the Iran-e Farda, a conservative organization, has officially announced her candidacy for the eighth presidential election. No other powerful conservative figures have made their decision for the race.
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