Kamangir (Archer)

The Great Liar, or Ahmadinejad’s Promises

Kamangir | August 24, 2006 | Category Iran

For the anniversary of Ahmadinejad’s presidency, Shargh newspaper has collected a list of 23 issues he raised during his presidential campaign (see). The question is which one of them were addressed during this year.

1- We are following the idea of professional cities. This is possible. Now, we have problems with housing and employment…We can have professional cities.

2- We believe in non-aggregated cities [meaning not having gigantic cities like Tehran where every service is available and small towns where people do not have access to many services].

3- People ask why you [in the government] are living in [governmental] palaces. They say this is to honor the state [show a decent picture of it]. How have you extracted this from Islam? From which demand of the nation you have extracted this? [Ahmadinejad is living in the presidential palace now]

4- The government must be supportive of cultural movements…The government must support artists and let them express themselves freely. This is possible…Investing in this field has no risk.

5- Higher education should change its direction and should appreciate the country’s power.

6- Academic places which have no political movements in them are missing their mission…The university must ask questions why [about] people in power have lost people’s support…This is an essential step.

7- Sexual apartheid is oppression to the women…The government will hire people independently of their sexuality.

8-Five million people live in suburbs [without many services]…This process should be reversed to solve the problem.

9- We must give zero-interest loans to the farmers…The government must pardon old debts. More than one million jobs in the agriculture are not mobilized.

10- More than 40% of the traffic in the cities is from government transportation…Each day more than 4 million litres of gas is consumed in Tehran…The government must start from itself…Authority for tea industry must be transferred to the north [where tea farms are] oil industry to the south [close to the sources] copper to Kerman [close to the mines]. Now, all of them are here [in Tehran].

11- We have a cebinet but they are independent islands…Ministers must be team members…The government must be converging.

12- State-owned factories are not efficient.

13- Foreign policy is for supporting national security and the nation’s interests. This is our ambassadors’ mission…The foreign policy is now passive. A small pressure is exaggerated and transferred to the nation.

14- While a country in South America was filing a lawsuit against us and the foreign ministry was defending Iran, an economic ministry signed a million-dollar contract with that same country. They must have said, we do not buy. Why do they state resolutions against us and also sign contracts with us. [Russia is acting very similarly right now]

15-In the first three months of the new cabinet everything in the country will be changed. The framework for work and building trust will be in place again.

16- A year after the establishment of the new government the results will be visible in every aspect, even including economy.

17- Reducing housing prices is the government’s responsibility. We have a plan for it.

18- Students will see a major difference…Tution fees will reduce drastically.

19- By saving in governmental organizations, the education system’s budget will be supplied… everywhere.

20- Criticism is a God-blessed benefit. The [governmental] manager who does not listen to criticism is not a manager. Only if one of them [the criticisms] is good it is worth listening to a hundred of them. In our country from each 100 statements, 40 or 60 are useful. This is a very high record in the world. This the most precious belonging of us. If someone thinks he knows very much he knows nothing…The government must listen. Then, criticism would become a norm…We must accept that we are a family…If we boost this feeling in ourselves then whenever an Iranian says something no one will take offense.

21- People should see the changes in the price of oil directly in their lives. It goes 8 dollars, the life is as it had been. It becomes 50 dollars, nothing changes. We can do this [help people benefit from the oil price].

22-Do you think our main problem is to deal with our children’s hair style? Our kids like to have they hair styled as they wish. It is none of my and your business. People have different tastes…Is this what the government should be known for? Is people’s problem what that girl wears?

23- A government which sees different people differently is not a government [rejecting apartheid].