Gerishna: One year after Mr. Rouhani’s victory in the presidential elections, his fans in Gerash saw the occasion fit to invite Dr. Sadegh Zibakalam to speak about the achievements of the government in its first year. The outspoken political analyst was received warmly yesterday, on June 17th, in the amphitheater of the Medicine Faculty of Gerash.
To everyone’s surprise last year, Rouhani was the first choice of Gerashis in the election, getting 39 percent of the votes. Zibakalam is the professor of political science in the University of Tehran, and a zealot advocate of President Rouhani’s government before and after the elections. He has been very active during the last year, giving speeches in defense of the government in many different cities and universities.
In Gerash, Dr. Zibakalam was as candid and explicit as he always is. He talked for half an hour about the condition of the country when Rouhani was elected president, reviewed the process of the elections of the last year, and specified the negotiations about atomic energy as the single most important factor in the government’s success. After this, he answered questions raised by the audience in another 30 minutes.
These are the highlights of Dr. Zibakalam’s speech yesterday:
“Keeping the situation of the Middle East in mind, we should thank God that the elections were held without any tensions. The elections were verified and respected not only inside the country but also all over the world.”
“If we want to carry out reform, we have no other way than the ballot-box.”
“The conservatives delivered the country in a terrible, terrible situation. One doesn’t know where to begin; form the corruption, from inflation, from negative economic growth, from the decline of Iran’s status in international relations.”
“The government has not been able to perform as decisively as expected. But the most important task that the government has undertaken is disentangling the country from the deadlock of atomic energy. If the government carries this task to its completion, it has done the greatest service to the country. I personally believe that unless Rouhani’s government will be able to conclude the negotiations and reach an agreement with the West, we cannot expect it to be successful in other sectors in the future three years.”
Some Words and Expressions in this News Story:
Presidential elections: انتخابات ریاست جمهوری
Political analyst: تحلیلگر سیاسی
Professor of political science: استاد علوم سیاسی
Negotiations: مذاکرات
Reform: اصلاحات
Ballot-box: صندوق رای
The conservatives: محافظهکاران، اصولگرایان
Inflation: تورم
Negative economic growth: رشد منفی اقتصادی
International relations: روابط بینالملل
Deadlock of atomic energy: بنبست انرژی اتمی
Agreement: توافق
The best suprise for basij!