TEHRAN While President Mohammad Khatami seems a shoo-in for reelection next June, a core member of a right-wing party said their party will "certainly" win the next presidential election, the Iran Student News Agency (ISNA) said Friday.

"We are still discussing on a candidate for presidency, but we have yet to come to a conclusion," Hamidreza Tarraqi, member of the center-of-the-right Islamic Coalition Society told the agency.

He implicitly revealed his opposition to appointment of Deputy Interior Minister Mostafa Tajzadeh as head of election headquarters.

Tarraqi, however, said: "We expect President Khatami to transparently discuss the economic woes with people."

Khatami has twice alluded to conservatives "looking to deceive the population and the youth on ... the realization of their rights," and said he lacked "sufficient power" in office.

The reformist president has yet to announce formally that he will seek a second-term, the maximum allowed under the Iranian Constitution.

Mohammad Khatami was elected president on May 23, 1997 by over 20 million votes (69 percent of the total cast), for a four-year term which ends next May.

In late July, he made known his intention to run for the second time in office and said he would come up with an even "more developed program for reforms."

Last Wednesday, President Khatami drew up a list of nominations for five cabinet positions for parliamentary approval.

Among them was Ahmad Masjed-Jame'i, now caretaker at the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance, nominated as Khatami's candidate for the ministry after the reform-minded Ataollah Mohajerani was forced out under pressure from conservatives.

Meanwhile, Interior Minister Abdolvahed Mousavi Lari also said last Wednesday that Khatami is certain to run for reelection because he is determined to keep fighting for his reform program.

"There's no doubt that he will stand in the elections, so I can tell you: Khatami will certainly be a candidate," Abdolvahed Mousavi Lari told a Tehran press conference.

(IRNA)