In a strong speech six weeks before the election, the supreme leader admonished presidential candidates against making empty promises or creating tension. Ayatollah Khamenei also defended the Guardian Council, which usually disqualifies 99 percent of candidates. In 2009, the council only cleared four out of more than 400 men and none of the 42 women who registered. Guardian Council members are “fair-minded, impartial, and insightful,” the supreme leader claimed. The next president must be “resistant against enemy pressure.” The following are excerpted remarks from Khamenei’s speech at an early May Day event.
“Iran needs a president who is brave and fearless in the international arena and in the face of arrogant powers, and who has planning, wisdom and foresight in the domestic arena, and believes in the resistance economy… A president must be a person who, first and foremost, believes in God, the people, and the constitution, and, secondly, must have an indomitable spirit… The Iranian nation seeks to realize great objectives and [carry out] great tasks, and is not one to surrender. And no one can speak to it using the language of force. Therefore, [the president] must be brave, fearless and resistant against enemy pressure and should not back down…
[Candidates] must not give people empty promises… but rather they must move forward with logical remarks based on the realities on the ground and reliance on God… [Presidents] should not create unnecessary costs and problems for the people, and should not cause concerns for or create tension among the people…
Those who plan to enter the election scene should enter the scene after a proper assessment, and it is the people who will decide in the end… As the late Imam Khomeini always emphasized, the participation of the Guardian Council in the election through checking the qualifications (of candidates) by fair-minded, impartial, and insightful people is auspicious…
They [Western nations] try to use economic pressure to create a rift between the nation and the Islamic establishment and dishearten the people.” April 27, in a speech to thousands of workers in Tehran
Photo Credit: Leader.ir
