Iran: Weak Economy Challenges Populist President
WASHINGTON, July 21, 2006 (RFE/RL) -- The biggest problems facing elected officials in Iran are economic ones, particularly double-digit unemployment and inflation. These factors dogged President Mohammad Khatami during his term in office (1997-2005), and the reformists' focus on civil-society development resounded poorly with people who often could not afford meat with their meals.
Mahmud Ahmadinejad's campaign promise that Iran's oil revenues would end up on Iranians' tables, therefore, contributed greatly to his winning the 2005 presidential election. In recent weeks, Ahmadinejad has pledged to do more to resolve the country's unemployment problem, but national media and parliamentarians have become quite critical of the administration's failures in this area.
Battling Joblessness
Unemployment is one of the country's biggest problems, Ahmadinejad said on July 11, IRNA reported, and job creation is a major aspect of the government's development plan. "The government intends to tackle the unemployment problem with assistance from the people and principled planning," he told residents of the town of Malekan in East Azerbaijan Province.
The Central Bank of Iran reported that the unemployment rate was 12.1 percent as of March 20, 2006, Fars News Agency reported on June 5. The overall population was 68.6 million and the working population was 22.3 million. Yet some economists believe continued
