Mashai Readies for the Presidency

Rooz Online

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad appointed his close ally and chief of staff Esfandiar Rahim Mashai to head the non-aligned movement secretariat currently headed by Iran on a rotational basis. In another move, Ahmadinejad moved another member of his inner circle known by critics as the “deviant current” seyed Hassan Mousavi to be his new chief of staff. Until now Mousavi was a vice-president and head of the National Cultural Heritage Organization and Tourism.

IN yet another reshuffle, Ahmadinejad moved Mohammad Sharif Malekzadeh, who was the head of the supreme council on Iranians outside the country, to become the new vice-president and head of the national cultural heritage organization. The minister of Communications and Information Technology Reza Taghipour was also temporarily replaced with Ali Nikzad, the current minister of urban development.

Mashai’s resignation from his post as chief of staff and his departure to the secretariat of the non-aligned movement has once again launched talk about his presidential bid.

Raja news called the change “sudden” and wrote that Mashai had resigned from all his government posts, including head of the government’s communications council, the president’s representative in Rahian Noor, chairmanship of the group of young advisors to the president, etc.

The news site wrote that with Mashai’s departure from the president’s office, it appeared that Ahmadinejad’s “the most important step” for the June 2013 presidential election has begun. But it also conjectured that there would be no policy changes in the organization despite Mashai’s absence but says there will be “major events regarding the presidential election.”

Baztab website close to former Revolutionary Guards commander and current secretary of the State Expediency Council Mohsen Rezai, wrote that the change in the chief of staff may indicate a retreat of his position vis-à-vis the Principlists (members of the establishment supporting the supreme leader ayatollah Khamenei). The site says that Mashai’s new position which would require him to engage in foreign trips and lobbying in international issues should not be “interpreted as a simple issue.” According to this site, the appointment of Mousavi, a protégé of Mashai to be the president’s new chief of staff will in fact keep the management of that position in the hands of Mashai. Mashai, it wrote, has not left the post, but is now “free for the presidential election and foreign communications.” Baztab also called Malekzadeh’s appointment as “one of the most important presidential aides” despite Majlis’ negative view of him even though a state decree issued by the supreme leader had exonerated him of criminal charges. “Ahmadinejad’s strange comments” about Mashai in his appointment order indicate “the start of a new project” for Mashai.

Parts of Ahmadinejad’s order of appointment of Mashai read, “I view you as a pious, pure, patient person with a clear heart and thoughts, and dedicated to divine values and the people of the world, committed to the ideals of Mahdi, the rule of monotheism in the world, justice, love, freedom and joint management by nations. I view knowing you and working with you to be a divine gift and a great honor to me.”

Mashai has been a controversial figure in both of Ahmadinejad’s presidential terms. Among his controversial remarks have been those in which he has praised the pre-Islamic Iranian heritage, his views on the “Iranian school of thought” vs. the Islamic, his positive remarks about “friendship with the people of Israel” and comments that many of those who voted for Ahmadinejad in the last presidential election were “critics of the regime.” These remarks have brought forth the ire of the political establishment protected by the supreme leader.

Hassan Ghafoorifard, a senior and vocal member of the Islamic Coalition Party (Hezbe Motalefe Islami) – Iran’s traditional conservative grouping – told Khabar Online that with this change, Mashai has begun his bid for the presidency and it is quite possible, according to him, that his credentials will be approved. Ghafoorifard said one cannot conclusively say whether the Guardians Council would reject Mashai or not especially since the legal provisions for being a presidential candidate accept vice-presidents as qualified individuals, especially as his role was greater than even the first vice-president.

In late October, news media affiliated to Mashai had announced the results of a poll that indicated that over 35.5 percent of those polled voted for him to become the next president. After Mashai, former president Mohammad Khatami was voted next with 21 percent support. Just a month before this news announcement, a right-wing newspaper that opposes reforms had written that Khatami enjoyed the highest support for presidency followed by Rafsanjani and Mashai, among others.

Mashai had remained relatively out of the media for months after criticism by hardliners and the supreme leader of the country. But last week he came out and spoke in public in the town of Kermanshah. He spoke about the next presidential election and said he hoped they would be “very enthusiastic,” with wide public participation. He also said that 2013 would be a “blossoming year for the country.”

Hardline critics of the president and the administration have in recent months spoken about Ahmadinejad’s desire to copy the Putin-Medvedev rotational presidency model in Iran with Mashai and Ahmadinejad juxtaposing their positions for a term and then Ahmadinejad returning to the presidency to meet the legal 2 term limits for the office.