TEHRAN – Jamshid Ansari, the vice president and chief of the Administrative Recruitment Organization, has assessed the first televised debates between presidential contenders on Saturday as weak, saying the candidates had little command of presenting solutions for the country’s issues and problems.

“What was more conspicuous in the Saturday debates was the little command of candidates for presenting solutions for the country’s issues and problems,” Ansari tweeted on Sunday morning.

Ansari said the candidates mostly pointed to issues that people are feeling them without presenting a “strategy” and “clear plan”.  The vice president said repetition of problems will not prove effective.  

The first televised debate between the seven presidential candidates was held on Saturday afternoon. Amon the candidates five – namely Mohsen Rezaei, Alireza Zakani, Saeed Jalili and Qazizadeh Hashemi and Ebrahim Raeisi - mostly pointed their finger at Nasser Hemmati, the central banker, for the problems. However, the government dismissed Hemmati last week and replaced him with his deputy Akbar Komeijani.

Only Hemmati and Mohsen Mehr Ali Zadeh, a pro-reform candidate, did not trade accusations against each other.

Most analysts say that the Saturday debates had no winner. Rezaei accused Hemmati as a candidate for the Rouhani administration, a claim refuted strongly by Hemmati.