Iran’s former reformist president Mohammad Khatami – who is the choice of some of the ‎reformist groups for next year’s presidential race – said yesterday that guaranteeing the ‎integrity of the elections was more important than participation in it and expressed his ‎concern over legal violations of the elections process by those responsible for ‎implementing and monitoring them.‎

While on a visit to Chaharmahal va Bakhtiari province and meeting civil activists there, ‎Khatami referred to public requests for his candidacy in next year’s presidential race by ‎saying, “The issue of who participates in the elections is not the key issue. Most ‎importantly an atmosphere must be created so that the public can freely elect their ‎choice.” Mentioning the elimination of effective candidates during the eight Majlis ‎elections last year, he said, “During the last Majlis elections many productive ‎personalities who were wanted by the public were eliminated before the elections began. ‎These and other similar issues must be resolved so that elections that take place are free ‎and decisive based on the votes of the public.”‎

Khatami said that the current problem in the country was the lack of implementation of ‎the constitution, adding that under the constitution, “there is nobody, no organization or ‎agency that is not accountable, meaning that there is no person or agency that can have ‎authority without being accountable.”‎

Expressing his regret that the constitution was “repeatedly violated”, he said, “People ‎who are responsible for implementing or monitoring the constitution are indifferent to it ‎and may even be the leading violators.” “Many of those who are entrusted with ‎protecting the constitution act contrary to it,” Khatami said, apparently referring to the ‎President and the Guardians Council which is constitutionally entrusted with the task of ‎supervising and monitoring national elections, but has in practice disqualified thousands ‎of candidates in the process. ‎

Touching on the subject of his possible return to formal politics, he said, “Returning can ‎only be meaningful if we can move a step forward, otherwise some other solution must ‎be sought.”‎