Iran judiciary chief slams Ahmadinejad 'slogans'
Irans judiciary chief has become the latest figure to criticise President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad for his attacks on opponents, accusing him of exaggeration and sloganeering, reports said on Saturday.
The comments by Ayatollah Mahmoud Hashemi Shahroudi come just over week after Ahmadinejad launched his most bitter attack yet on his rivals, accusing them of forming mafias of political and economic corruption. The presidents accusations, made in a speech in the clerical city of Qom, unleashed new controversy and the heads of two judiciary bodies have already denounced his comments as lacking any factual basis.
Fighting economic corruption is a fundamental factor in making society healthy, said Shahroudi, in comments reported by much of the Iranian press including the Tehran daily Hamshahri. But if instead of using legitimate procedures one falls into exaggeration, unrealistic campaigning and sloganeering, then this fundamental factor will be forgotten, he said, in a reference to Ahmadinejads speech.
And therefore it becomes an instrument to be used to sideline rivals. Shahroudi, who is appointed by supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and is renowned for his knowledge of Islamic jurisprudence (fiqh), seldom speaks out on political issues. His last such intervention was in August 2007, when he vehemently criticised Ahmadinejads mass changing of mid-ranking managers.
Posted by: Fred 2008-04-27 |