Zolnoor: Rouhani Has No Chance of Winning Votes, People Should Vote for Someone Who Has Experienced Poverty

The head of the Iranian Parliament's nuclear committee expressed doubt about the economic statistics presented by President Hassan Rouhani, implicitly urging the public not to vote for him in the upcoming presidential elections. Mojtaba Zolnoor, a member of parliament, stated on Saturday, April 5, to the Jam-e Jam Online website that Rouhani's economic statistics in his Nowruz message 'have not alleviated the pain of the people.' According to him, Iran currently has eight million unemployed, and Rouhani's claim of creating two million jobs in the country is 'somewhat heavy and incomprehensible.' Zolnoor also reacted to the government's announcement of creating 700,000 job opportunities in 1395 (2016), saying, 'We must see in what area the increase in business activity has occurred.' The representative from Qom assessed the issue of 'economic opening and development' mainly in the oil sector and criticized the government's 'raw oil sales,' stating that 'selling raw oil is not something to be proud of.' In another part of the conversation, the member of the National Security and Foreign Policy Commission described the approved budget for 1396 (2017) as a 'disaster.' He stated, 'A budget that allocates 90% to the country's current expenses does not deserve congratulations from the people.' After raising criticisms and objections regarding the economic performance of Rouhani's government, Zolnoor said, 'The president's programs and slogans in the economic field have not been realized.' He added that 'from this perspective, there is not much ground for him to win votes,' and that people in the upcoming presidential elections should 'vote for someone who... has tasted poverty and problems.' Zolnoor also urged the Iranian people to vote for a candidate who 'commits to the ideals of the revolution and focuses on achieving a resilient economy, an export-oriented economy, boosting production, and creating jobs for the youth.' Several Friday prayer leaders in Iran also criticized the government's economic performance on April 4, calling for the election of a president 'without divergence' from the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic. Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and a group of conservative political activists have repeatedly questioned the economic performance of Rouhani's government over the past month. Rouhani and some government officials have also published statistics of their activities over the past four years, particularly in the economic field, which are not accepted by the conservative critics of the eleventh government. The Supreme Leader has named the new year 'Resilient Economy: Production, Employment' and stated that there is 'a significant gap between the actions taken and the expectations of the people and the leadership.' Hamidreza Fooladgar, a member of the Industries and Mines Commission, also stated on Saturday that 'the parliament's definite demand after the holidays will be to obtain accurate employment statistics from the government.'