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Iran's Conservatives Approve of Khatami's Re-Election
TEHRAN, June 20 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - Iran's conservative Guardians Council approved on Wednesday the landslide June 8 re-election of moderate President Mohammad Khatami, allowing him a second four-year term, the state IRNA news agency said.
"The confirmation of the validity of the eighth presidential elections was decided on during the council's meeting Wednesday after having received the opinion of executive officials," IRNA quoted a council statement as saying.
It said that "widespread irregularities" had not affected the outcome, which saw Khatami, 57, crush his nine other, mostly conservative candidates in the polls, winning 77% of the votes, according to the official results.
"In order to protect the law and to avoid a repetition of fraud (cases), they will be examined by competent bodies, notably the judiciary," it said.
"During the eighth presidential elections, the honorable people of Iran reinforced the power of religion and national sovereignty with a forceful and dynamic participation, accompanied with their profound convictions and belief in the revolution," the council said.
Khatami crushed his nearest runner-up, conservative former labor minister Ahmad Tavakoli, winning 21,656,476 votes, while Tavakoli came a distant second at 15.6% with 4,387,112 of the ballots.
Eight other candidates, most of them also conservatives, divided the rest of the votes. More than 28 million people took part in the presidential polls two weeks ago.
The popular moderate cleric will be sworn in early in August for a second four-year term, the maximum allowed under the Iranian constitution.
Khatami won more than 20 million votes four years ago in May 1997, and conservatives were expected to claim back some of that support, as his ambitious agenda waned and if he failed to at least come close to matching that figure this time around.
The charismatic president, who only reluctantly announced his candidacy for the presidential elections, has eased social pressures at home while working to restore Iran's image on the international stage.
He drew the world's attention to his struggle when he broke down in public last month, wiping tears from his eyes as he described the "heavy price" paid by his reform movement.
His first tenure was almost constantly hit by major setbacks, with more than 40, mostly reformist, papers and journals suspended and dozens of journalists and key allies either jailed or facing trial.
Just hours after the announcement of his victory, Khatami hailed his re-election as a victory for "democracy and freedom," but also warned that the future road for reforms in Islamic Iran was a difficult one.
"This is a real victory, and paying this great nation back will not be easy for the one they have supported," Khatami said.
Khatami's wife, Zohreh Sadeqi, also agreed that her husband's upcoming four-year term would present new hardships because of his reform plans, the Iranian daily Hayat-e No said.
But despite any apprehensions about the road ahead, the triumphant notes in Khatami's victory do not go unheard. On Wednesday, Greece's President Kostis Stephanopoulos sent a congratulatory message to Khatami, saying that ''the existing relations of friendship and cooperation between Greece and Iran will continue to strengthen and develop," the IRNA reported.
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