Ahmadinejad who is seeking reelection said on Tuesday that a group of 150 to 200 people were present in all decision-making centers before he took office as president.

The president told thousands of supporters in Mashhad that those who had become millionaires overnight were among this small group who considered themselves separate from the rest of the society. He said this group of managers who first entered the government with “empty pockets” later bought gardens in northern Tehran.
He also said the 2004 summer movement that led to his victory is still dynamic, adding that there had been persons who secured large sums of loans through favoritism to create jobs and promote domestic production but later there were no trace of those persons or their factory.
Karroubi says he is committed to his election promises
Mahdi Karroubi said on Monday that he does not give promises that he will not be able to deliver if he wins the presidential election.
“I vow to implement my election promises after victory,” Karroubi told a group of people in Sari.
The presidential challenger said a “change” is needed and “capable” persons should take the center stage.
He went on to say that in his campaign tours across the country he closely observed people’s problems and he will act upon resolving these problems if elected.
The former Majlis speaker also said providing job for the youth will be his main priority.
Talking to students in Noushiravani University in Babol, (Mazandaran province), Karroubi said if he wins the presidential race he will introduce a system that students themselves elect the deans of universities and that there will be no “political prisoner”.
Mousavi: We will renationalize oil
Mir-Hossein Mousavi said natural resources like oil should be used for long-term plans. “We will renationalize oil” and let people know about “all contracts especially oil sales contracts” by being transparent, he explained.
Talking among students at Mohaqeq Ardabil University, the presidential hopeful said he will also end gender inequality in university education. To end this trend, he said he will act based on the Imam Khomeini’s eight-point order in ending discrimination.
The presidential hopeful also said an “early retirement” of university professors must be ended.
He also cited unemployment as a major problem which university graduates. He said unemployment is the root cause of many social ills.
He also accused administration officials of giving false statistics in order to create a sense of “optimism’ about their record in people’s minds.
“Those who lie about the rate of unemployment and inflation and present false statistics should ask themselves how can they be responsible to people?” the former prime minister noted.
He said the current 25 percent inflation shows people’s purchasing power has decreased one-fourth, poor people have faced more hardship to feed themselves and their families, and a consequently end up spending less for education and health.
He went on to say that the country must capitalize on important projects. He added that everything must be based on proper planning and it is not the time to manage the country based on the model adopted during the Qajar era.
MP says 57 percent of voters back Ahmadinejad
MP Hossein Fadayee said according to opinion polls incumbent President Ahmadinejad is still far ahead of his rivals with a 57 percent of potential voters still backing him.
Fadayee claimed that certain persons are presenting distorted information to promote their own candidate “but Ahmadinejad still enjoys high popularity in the country.”
The MP said the record of the current administration is the best tool to defend itself in the face of opponents. He also said according to studies conducted the “rumor” that Ahmadinejad’s approval rate has decreased is just a “psychological war”.
Responding to critics of the Ahmadinejad administration, he said, “Every fair person knows that the government is working round the clock and doing services to the nation and this is a great event which is confessed by friends and foes.”
He went on to say that the average time to finish an infrastructure project in the previous administration was 12 years while it has been reduced 5 to 6 years in the current administration.