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New Era Begins For Conservatives
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Hadi Qabel
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TEHRAN, April 27--A member of the pro-reform Islamic Iran Participation Front said a new era has begun for conservatives.
Hadi Qabel told IRNA on Tuesday that people’s refusal to toe the line of the Coordinating Council for Islamic Revolutionary Forces indicates changes in the beliefs of conservatives.
“Since the Iranian society is pluralistic in terms of views and thoughts, no single person can decide for others and people do not rely on a particular person’s decisions,“ he said.
The reformist pointed out that reformers are trying to show that the time is not ripe for telling people what to do or not to do.
“This is while conservatives did not pay attention to the message of reformers and are insisting on their own stance,“ he added.
Qabel opined that some conservatives now believe in pluralism and have begun to disagree with other conservatives.
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Call to Boost Public Administration
TEHRAN, April 27--An Interior Ministry official said on Wednesday Iran’s Constitution wants the government to prepare the ground for people’s administration of their own affairs.
Addressing the opening ceremony of the National Seminar on Councils, deputy interior minister for social and council affairs, Ashraf Boroujerdi said city and village councils were formed to reduce centralization of power by using human and local resources, IRNA reported.
She added that there are 32,000 city and village councils in Iran and the councilors number 110,000.
“The seminar’s goal is to make use of the experiences of other countries,“ he said, adding that experts from Russia, Lebanon, India, Malaysia, Turkey, Tajikistan, Saudi Arabia and Yemen took part in the seminar.
Stressing the need to revise the Councils Law, Boroujerdi added that an amendment to the law is on top of the Interior Ministry’s agenda.
The two-day seminar ended on Thursday.
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Aref Concludes Tour Of Indonesia, Georgia
TEHRAN, April 27--First Vice President Mohammad Reza Aref wound up his two-nation tour to Indonesia and Georgia and arrived here late Tuesday.
Talking to reporters at Mehrabad International Airport, Aref said the Asian-African summit 2005 was aimed at commemorating the 50th anniversary of the summit’s foundation in Indonesia’s Bandung city and expanding bilateral cooperation in political, economic and cultural fields.
He said three documents were drawn up by participants in the summit on promotion of cooperation between Asia and Africa.
“Materialization of the documents and cooperation between the two continents in the wake of natural disasters, including earthquakes and tsunami, were stressed by the documents,“ he said.
The vice president noted that the three documents paid heed to proposals made by the Iranian delegation regarding implementation of Bandung statement, the need for Dialogue Among Civilizations and reshuffle in the United Nations structures.
He stated that on the sidelines of the Asia-Africa summit, he had separate meetings with 10 presidents, three prime ministers and two deputy ministers.
Aref further said his visit to Georgia took place at the invitation of that country’s prime minister, adding that expansion of relations and cooperation with regional and neighboring states is among Iran’s policies.
Assessing his meeting with Georgian officials as positive, he said the country’s officials, particularly the president and prime minister, expressed the determination to boost ties with Iran.
Aref also said five documents for bolstering bilateral cooperation were signed in the 4th meeting of Iran-Georgia joint commission, held in Tbilisi. Aref visited the Georgian capital city of Tbilisi on April 25 after attending the Asia-Africa summit 2005 in Jakarta, Indonesia.
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Tajzadeh:
Reforms Help Fulfill People’s Demands
MASHHAD, Khorasan Razavi, April 27--The reformist path is the best way for pursuing democracy and fulfilling people’s demand, a member of Islamic Iran Participation Front said.
Addressing a gathering in Mashhad on Tuesday, Mostafa Tajzadeh also said it’s not true that the people have become disappointed with the reformist movement, IRNA reported.
He noted that people from different walks of life have even adopted the reformist movement as the preferred form of dialogue.
“People want reforms and are more inclined towards democracy, cultural, civil and social rights,“ he said.
He asserted that the interviews and speeches of next presidential candidates are continuation of the reformist dialogue established in May 1997.
“Elections provide people with good opportunities to study the track record of candidates and express their opinions about them,“ he added.
Tajzadeh asserted that President Mohammad Khatami implemented reforms for the first time in the Iranian society and the presidential aspirant, Mostafa Moin, will pursue those reforms in case he wins the race.
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213 Kg of Drugs Seized
BIRJAND,
South Khorasan, April 27--Over 213 kg of narcotics were nabbed in this eastern province over the past two days, an anti-drug police official said on Wednesday.
Mansour Sabbagh added that the provincial police confiscated over 188 kg of drugs, including hashish and opium, in the city of Nahbandan during this period, IRNA reported.
“The drugs were seized from traveling vehicles,“ he said.
The official noted that the police also arrested six drug traffickers and confiscated three automobiles during this period.
Iran, despite its unceasing anti-drug efforts, has remained a key route for southwest Asian drugs on their way to lucrative markets in Europe and Persian Gulf countries.
Domestic narcotic consumption continues to be a persistent problem with at least two million drug addicts in the country.
Some 1.2 million people are addicted to narcotics in Iran while about 800,000 people use drugs occasionally.
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Trust
AFTAB-E YAZD: It is quite evident that even the most powerful governments will not succeed unless they win the people’s trust. The most important problem facing the governments today is the widening rift between the rulers and the ruled. Hence, the major consideration in different parts of the world is to enhance the unity between nations and governments. This is while some cynics do not like the people to place trust in governments. It seems that the remedy lies in governments assuming more accountability vis-ˆ-vis their performances.
Sensitive
HAMBASTEGI: General elections, including the presidential race, are definitely one of the most complicated forms of political activity. However, since the number of candidates for the next presidential race slated for June 17 has considerably increased in comparison with the previous races, we are experiencing intricate and sensitive times. Although the rightists were expected to reach consensus on a single candidate, they have come to realize that this cannot be achieved due to the wide differences of opinion among the nominees.
Main Reason
DONYA-YE EQTESAD: Like many other politicians, Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, is tactful in his statements and decision-makings. For example, he was quite tactful when he said that he will take the bitter medicine by participating in the presidential election. Rafsanjani suddenly changed his of tone of speech while for a long time he insisted that he would run for president under emergency conditions. In fact, what Rafsanjani meant was that he would nominate himself only if it were proven that other nominees could not administer the country no matter what. The most important reason for Rafsanjani’s candidature might be the fact that the US and the European Union have asserted that they would not display any leniency towards Iran’s nuclear programs.
Prerequisites
MARDOMSALARI: Two prerequisites should be met for paving the way for high voter turnout in the upcoming presidential race. Firstly, the election should be held in a free and competitive atmosphere. Secondly, the government and election officials should be transparent vis-ˆ-vis their performance. It is quite evident that absence of strong political parties on the scene has entailed many negative consequences. One disadvantage of the absence of political parties on the scene is the people’s indifference towards general elections.
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