Rouhani’s first priority should be to reduce poverty and create more jobs.
NIDDERAU, GERMANY: This is apropos your editorial of June 18 “Rouhani’s win”. A newspaper described Rouhani’s win quite well in the following manner: “The victory of Hassan Rouhani has stunned pundits, and it seems even Iranians can’t quite believe it. He is a moderate (if not, quite, a reformer) who defeated five conservatives. His victory was massive — 51 per cent.”
The bit about being liberal and moderate in a country like Iran does not mean much. The real leader is still the Ayatollah, who makes decisions with the president of the country having limited powers. The most important issue that the new president will face is that of Iran’s nuclear programme and if he can come to some agreement with the US on this, it will help Iran. Rouhani’s first priority should be to reduce poverty and create more jobs. With oil money, Iran should not have the poverty levels that we have seen in the last decade.
Sharif Lone
Published in The Express Tribune, June 20th, 2013.
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