Sunday, November 30, 2008

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad Part II

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Presidential campaign

Ahmadinejad generally sent mixed signals about his plans for his presidency, which some US-based analysts considered to have been designed to attract both religious conservatives and the lower economic classes. His campaign motto was, "It's doable and we can do it."
In his presidential campaign, Ahmadinejad took a populist approach, with emphasis on his own modest life, and compared himself with Mohammad Ali Rajai, the second president of Iran. Ahmadinejad said he had plans to create an "exemplary government for the people of the world" in Iran. He is a self-described "principlist"; that is, acting politically based on Islamic and revolutionary principles. One of his goals has been "putting the petroleum income on people's tables", referring to Iran's oil profits being distributed among the poor.
Ahmadinejad was the only presidential candidate who spoke out against future relations with the United States. In an interview with Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting a few days before the elections, Ahmadinejad accused the United Nations of being "one-sided, stacked against the world of Islam."He has openly opposed the veto power given to the five permanent members of the UN Security Council. In the same interview, he stated, "It is not just for a few states to sit and veto global approvals. Should such a privilege continue to exist, the Muslim world with a population of nearly 1.5 billion should be extended the same privilege." He has defended Iran's nuclear program and has accused "a few arrogant powers" of attempting to limit Iran's industrial and technological development in this and other fields.
During his campaign for the second round, he said, "We didn't participate in the revolution for turn-by-turn government.…This revolution tries to reach a world-wide government." Also he has mentioned that he has an extended program on fighting terrorism in order to improve foreign relations and has called for greater ties with Iran's neighbours and ending visa requirements between states in the region, saying that "people should visit anywhere they wish freely. People should have freedom in their pilgrimages and tours."
As confirmed by Ahmadinejad, his ideological and spiritual mentor is Ayatollah Mohammad Taghi Mesbah Yazdi, a senior cleric from Qom. Mesbah is the founder of Haghani School of thought in Iran. He and his team strongly supported Ahmadinejad's campaign during presidential election in 2005.

Election and Term

Ahmadinejad became the sixth president of Iran on 6 August 2005, after winning 62 percent of the vote in the run-off poll, nearly twice that of former president Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani considering the fact that the population of voters had risen threefold during Mr Rafsanjani's period in office. He received the presidential authorization from Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei on 3 August 2005. During the authorization ceremony he kissed Khamenei's hand in demonstration of his loyalty to him.Ahmadinejad's current term will end in August 2009, but he will be eligible to run for one more term in office in the 2009 presidential elections
Ahmadinejad was required to introduce his suggested ministers to Majlis for a vote of approval in 15 days, after which Majlis would have one week to decide about the ministers. Masoud Zaribafan, Ahmadinejad's campaign manager, mentioned that Ahmadinejad would probably introduce his cabinet on the same day of his vow, but that did not happen. The list was finally sent to the Majlis on 14 August 2005.
The parliament had held a private meeting on 5 August, when Ahmadinejad presented a shortlist of three or four candidates for each ministry, to know the opinion of Majlis about his candidates. The final list was officially sent to the Majlis on 14 August. After a few days of heavy discussions in Majlis, which started on 21 August 2005, Ahmadinejad's cabinet was voted for on 24 August.
The new board of ministers held its first meeting on 25 August in Mashhad, promising to keep frequent meetings to cities other than Tehran.

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