TEHRAN – Presidential candidate Mehdi Karroubi said on Friday that his campaign slogan for the 2009 election would be “change”.

The former parliament speaker who will stand in the vote from the National Confidence Party said reformists should avoid creating tension and try to encourage people to vote.
“My campaign slogan for the next year’s vote would be changing the current situation… our first priority is to make sure that people will have an active participation in the vote because we believe a high turnout would increase our chance to win.”
Karroubi stated that different reformist parties should team up and agree on a consensus candidate for the next vote. However, he said he will not drop out if former president Mohammad Khatami decides to run.
“A low turnout would benefit the conservatives but if more people vote, we could be hopeful that a reformist candidate will win the election,” Karroubi told students in Kordestan University in Sanandaj.
The former Majlis speaker said the government’s foreign policy and its economic strategies have created grave problems for the country. “If people want these problems to be resolved they should chant the slogan of change in the next election.”.
Karroubi said reformists should learn from the experience of the previous presidential election and have a proper planning for the next vote otherwise they will have to stay out of the decision-making body for another four years