The President: Go Ask the Person You Voted For

Meysame Tavab, Rooz Online: Special Rooz Report

In a public meeting, when requested by a group of Turkemen Iranians living in the North Eastern part of the country to look into their living conditions and problems, president Ahmadinejad said: “Go to the candidate for whom you voted and ask him to look into your problems.” During the last presidential elections, Turkemen publicly expressed their preferred presidential candidate to be the reformist liberal Seyed Mostafa Moin, who lost to Ahmadinejad, and Ahmadinejad’s reference is to this preference. READ MORE

The president made the remarks at a meeting in which Turkemen from the Khorasan province were present and requested help from the president in their efforts to solve their their trade and other problems. Meetings between the president and the residents of Iran’s various provinces are an established tradition in Iranian politics and has been exercised for some time now, seen as an occasion for the president to learn first hand of the issues that Iranians of all walks and locale face. This tradition contrasts with Ahmadinejad’s unconventional and unprecedented remarks to a group of Iranians living in the provinces with their eyes on Tehran as the source of support for their problems.

The participants at the meeting expressed their dismay at the president’s remarks, which is unprecedented in the public domain. These remarks come at a time when it has become clear that the individuals whom the president has invited to join the cabinet and other high ranking executive positions all come from a small circle of his close aides. This narrow selection has even brought about a backlash from members of his own elections committee.

One political observer said the reason why the president made such a remark is most likely because he believes in being direct, which in this case is completely out of line with any political astuteness and sensitivities. This is not the first time the Ahmadinejad has rather bluntly expressed his thoughts. Just three months ago his confrontational UN General Assembly speech alienated many members, including the Western governments who had been working with Iran in its effort in confidence-building over its questionable nuclear program. More recently, just two weeks ago he expressly called for wiping Israel off the map of the world, which also lead to wide international public condemnations and the cancellation of UN Secretary General’s visit to Tehran. In yet another public incident when he was mayor of Tehran, Ahmadinejad was blunt and rude in responding to then-president Khatami’s criticism of the municipality. He is also on record for offensive in his talks with members of the Majlis (Iran’s Parliament) during the confirmations sessions for his cabinet nominations.

It appears that while prides himself in being blunt and direct, (and thus honest?) he alienates large numbers of people who look up to him as the president.