Mr. Rouhani’s most important achievement in terms of citizenship rights so dearly held by his cabinet by appointing a special aid for minorities is Citizenship Rights Charter, which president believed had more than a hundred years of national campaign to vindicate rights of the people, culminated in the Constitutional Revolution of 1906, which was an attempt toward the rule of law and order; “all the nation, each and every citizen should be regarded as equal before the law; no one would seek the status the oligarchic nepotism bestows upon its ‘insiders’ in flagrant violation of others’ rights,” he told the meeting held to address the citizenship rights in the Constitution on Monday morning.
“If we cherish the rule of law, then we should cast the protections around some specific parties and political groups who feel absolutely insurmountable in their actions to break the law; no crony should stand above the law and mock the centenary efforts of a nation,” Rouhani emphasized. “This Charter was a promise which should have been fulfilled to address only a small part of the demands by the public; other promises had also been made during the campaign, among them was economic improvement and providing a modicum of hope to the frustrated parts of the young cohort; our minorities had been, during many elections, beholding the promises by candidates, who, upon assuming power, averted their heads from minorities, abandoning what they had been promising to the public.”
Rouhani then turned to economic promises of his election campaign almost 4 years ago; “I would rejoice to inform the nation that at least, we now have a single-digit inflation rate and a modest economic growth of 7.4 per cent announced by the Central Bank in the second and third quarters of fiscal year ending March 21 2017; back in August 2013, we had an economy in the edge of a steep cliff; now however, the economy has been saved and more than 15,000 small and medium-sized industries gradually resume their activity with favorable conditions coming back to the market,’ he told the meeting.
Rouhani believed that the Charter was undergirded by the Constitution; “Article 113 of the Constitution demands that the president oversee the execution of the Constitution, since president is the only single positon in the Establishment which is elected by direct votes of the plebiscite; by virtue of this, president has the duty to guarantee the rule of law,” he emphasized.
“Article 128 of the Constitution demands that the president protect fundamental freedoms and rights of the people; the Charter bases its premises on Article 134 where the cabinet would prepare their public policy; the Charter is the essence of the will enshrined in the Article 134 and the cabinet’s achievement in my administration,” rejoiced the president, “however, there is no claim as to the perfection of the Charter, and its pitfalls and loopholes should be detected during the implementation. The cabinet, above all, is responsible for the implementation of the Charter and other branches should also contribute; the Charter provides a bulwark for national unity and solidarity, it is an essential part of the development; Charter provides an example by which we could show the west that we have the capacity to provide the public with their own rights; it is the voice of the nation embodied in this form,” Rouhani concluded.
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