Finally, I will do whatever is my duty

Tehran Times - Former president Mohammad Khatami says he has “no interest to return to power,” in response to reformists’ calls to persuade him to contest in the 2009 presidential vote.

“I am seriously thinking about my presence in elections, (though) of course I personally have no interest to return to power,” Khatami said in a meeting with a group of clerics and theology students in Qom on Thursday.

He added, “Finally, I will do whatever is my duty.”

Khatami has been indirectly complaining that he did not have enough power to push through his plans during his two-term presidency.

The former president insisted that he is not seeking to regain power at “any price” or at a cost of a compromise on his “character.”

Khatami said if the conditions are not ripe for implementing his plans, his presidency will not be in the interest of “Islam and Iran”.

He suggested any body who “can work” under the current conditions should contest the elections.

The former president said that anybody who enters the presidential race should have practical plans for the country’s development, adding that the country cannot be run effectively with “slogans” which would finally disappoint people.

Elsewhere in his remarks, Khatami said the founder of the Islamic Republic, the late Imam Khomeini, insisted that “people’s votes and views” should determine the ruling system but today some actually say that people’s votes have no “influence and are artificial.”

This view that any body who thinks differently, even if he is loyal to “Imam (Khomeini) and the revolution,” should not find a seat in parliament or hold a public position is “very dangerous,” he warned.