The words of Zhigoli Khatami

Mohammad Ali Abtahi, from the Combatant Clergy Association, said: "I remember in Mr. Khatami's first speech, he spoke passionately about civil society. This speech about civil society and Mr. Khatami's beliefs regarding it was very bitter for practical types like us who were in Mr. Khatami's campaign. Even the next day, Mr. Mohammad Ali Najafi, Mr. Karbaschi, and another person came and said: 'Let's go to Mr. Khatami and tell him that these discussions are not good.' There was a lot of debate right there, and Mr. Khatami said this is fundamental. We need to understand it and clarify it for the future."

Mohsen Aminzadeh, head of Khatami's campaign office, states: "Wherever Mr. Khatami went, whether at the university or in public gatherings, he always spoke with elevated language and rhetoric." They wondered if the people would connect with this kind of language. Gradually, they concluded that this way of speaking "is not negative and has positive results." Tajzadeh mentions that some of their friends criticized the language and content of Khatami's speeches, but he himself believes this rhetoric was effective, and terms like "civil society" became well-established in society.

Hadi Khaniki notes that some, like Behzad Nabavi, considered Khatami's talk about civil society to be somewhat "superficial." Behzad Nabavi confirms this and says: "I was one of those who was very angry that Mr. Khatami was not at all promoting the slogan of social justice. I said he wouldn’t get votes; people don’t know what political development is, what civil society is. In fact, people may not know, and even I don’t understand what political development means. What does civil society mean? Let alone the people."

Khaniki mentions that Behzad Nabavi usually insisted on his opinions, and his insistence frustrated Khatami, who responded: "I cannot lie; my words are these: civil society and freedom. If you don’t want these, go look for someone else."

Now, after all these years, Behzad reflects on those days and concludes: "Khatami understood society better than we did." However, Tajzadeh points out an important note, saying it gradually became clear that people liked Khatami, and "naturally, in this case, weaknesses were not seen, only strengths were noticed."

These days, I am sharing excerpts from this book; a book whose publication date is unknown. These excerpts relate to the text of the book regarding the elections of Khordad 2, 1376 (May 23, 1997).

The purpose of sharing these sections is not to compare today's conditions with those days or to compare one of the candidates with Seyyed Mohammad Khatami, but it may lead to such reflections