Iranian Newspapers Continue to Speculate on Khatami's Re-electionIranian newspapers continued to speculate on whether incumbent President Mohammad Khatami will join the presidential election race with the closely watched campaign just around the corner.Khatami, who won the election in May 1997 in a landslide victory over his hardline competitor former Parliament Speaker Ali Akbar Nateq-Nouri, has yet to announce his readiness to join the re- election campaign. Analysts have been listening attentively to Khatami's latest speeches to catch glimpses of hints regarding his intention to campaign or step down. Many believe that Khatami's withdrawal from the race might lead to the end of Iran's social and culture reforms he initiated when he was sworn in four years ago. The conservative Tehran Times presented Tuesday different views from political circles regarding Khatami's decision. Amir Mohebbian, one of the members of the editorial board of conservative daily Resalat, was cited as saying that Khatami will certainly take part in the elections, but it is wrong for him to delay the announcement of his candidacy. He added that Khatami is trying to hide his intentions from his rivals by using the political tactic of postponing the announcement of his candidacy. Sayed Taha Hashemi, managing director of the centrist daily Entekhab, noted that Iran expects Khatami to run for re-election and complete his second development plan. Khatami's brother, Mohammad Reza Khatami, was quoted as saying on Monday by Entekhab that the president "has serious doubts and has still not said clearly what he intends to do, neither to me nor to the leadership of the Second Khordad Front," the reformist coalition backing him. Khatami would not announce his decision until May 6 or 7, the deadline for registration of candidates to join the June 8 elections, his brother said. But the president himself has virtually kept the nation in suspense with his silence over the elections, for which he must declare to be or not to be within four weeks. The government-run daily Iran published on Tuesday the result of recent opinion polls which showed some 83.9 percent of Tehran citizens are in favor of Khatami's run for a second mandate in the upcoming elections. It said that the latest straw vote conducted by a national institute has indicated that "65 percent of Iranians have said they will certainly vote for Khatami if he seeks a second term in office." About 58.4 percent of Tehran citizens covered by the polls have said Khatami's re-election would rehabilitate the administration of the country while 15 percent have warned the situation would get worse, according to the Persian-language daily. But the weekend arrest of 42 Islamic nationalists upon the orders of Tehran's revolutionary court on charges of "plotting to overthrow the Islamic regime" has dealt another blow to Khatami's reform program, dashing his hopes of bringing more freedom to Iran. The recent months have also seen more publications fade out as a result of an effective bid by the conservatives to silence liberal voices before the presidential elections. |
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