Azerbaijan, Baku, May 16 / Trend , T. Jafarov/
"The attitude of the Iranian presidential candidates towards Ahmadinejad their election campaign speeches is a provocation," Iranian parliament's Security Commission Deputy Chairman Ismayil Korsavi told Trend .
Former Interior Minister Mohtashamipur believes that the statements against Ahmadinejad are quite normal critics.
On May 15, IRNA quoted Iranian Culture Minister Saffar Gerandi as saying that recently there are statements claiming that oil revenues from worth $300 billion have disappeared during Ahmadinejad's presidency.
A day before this statement, a presidential candidate Mir Hussein Moussavi said that the country is managed by lawlessness and no one asks where 300 billion oil dollars have been spent for last four years and the government does not feel a responsibility to clarify the situation.
Rival to Ahmadinejad for the post of president and ex-Speaker Mehdi Karroubi in his statement on Thursday criticized the president of Iran and described his foreign policy as failure and dangerous. "If I become president (as opposed to Ahmadinejad), I will try not to run the world, but my country and will not tolerate the isolation of my country from all over the world," Karroubi said.
Ahmadinejad is criticized not only by reformists and but also conservative candidate Mohsun Rezai. "Ahmadinejad leads the country to collapse," Rezai said.
Supreme religious leader of the country Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, speaking on May 13 in Kurdistan, called the criticism against Ahmadinejad unfounded. "I am more aware of all policies of the government and I think the criticism is unfair," Khamenei said.
Kovsari believes provocative speeches of candidates against the Ahmadinejad government's works are dishonest.
He said such actions hurt not only Ahmadinejad, but also themselves. "The Iranian people see the efforts of honest and fair government. For this reason, it would be better if the candidates announced their platform and do not make a provocative statements against the government," Kovsari, representative of the conservative camp, said by telephone from Tehran.
Despite statements by the representatives of the conservative camp defending Ahmadinejad, the opposition also accused supporters of President of provocative statements.
Earlier last week, a dispute occurred between the representative of the supreme religious leader Hussein Shariatmari and presidential candidate Karroubi in the newspaper Keyhan. Karroubi accused the government associated with the Iranian revolutionaries Corps (Sepah) of illegal interference in the elections and pro-government media of putting pressure on other candidates.
Elections are organized by the Interior Ministry in Iran. Former Interior Minister Ali Akbar Mohtashamipur told Trend from Tehran that statements by candidates regarding Ahmadinejad's ruling the country are true and they have a right to do so.
"Criticism by the candidates does not mean policy of black PR against him. Government is severely criticized in every democratic country. Lack of criticism is a lack of democracy," member of the council of religious persons Mohtashamipur said.
However, Kovsari believes that sharp statements by the candidates could be a blow to the Iranian Islamic Revolution, because they once held high offices. He said the current candidates held public office before. "What would have happened if the same campaign was against them at that time? They should think about it and should not commit such deeds because of the pair of votes," Kovsari said.
Mohtashamipur said criticism should be seen normally. "Criticism may be different, some criticize mildly and others very sharp. This is critics, but not black PR and must not be perceived as damaging national benefit," Mohtashamipur said. .
The main competitors in the struggle for the presidency are current Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Chairman of the National Trust Party and ex-speaker Mehdi Karroubi, former Prime Minister Mir Hussein Moussavi and former head of the Corps of the Revolution (Sepah) Mohsun Rezai.
Presidential elections in Iran are held every four years. Candidates may participate in the electoral process after the approval of the Supervisory Board candidates. A person elected as president receives the status after the approval of the supreme spiritual leader. President is a second person after the supreme spiritual leader in the country. The president oversees the entire executive administration and determines external and internal policy.
The next presidential election in Iran will be held on June 12, 2009.