President Seyed Mohammad Khatami announced in April last year that he would run in the forthcoming presidential election for a second term in office, but in September he expressed some reservations in this regard.

President Khatami and his team have officially kept the nation in limbo about his candidacy in the next election, while most people are sure that he would seek a second term in office. Even Commerce Minister Mohammad Shariatmadari, in a recent meeting with the Saudi officials, stressed that Khatami would run for reelection. And Iranian Ambassador to Seoul, Hassan Talaei, is also on record as saying that Khatami will visit Korea during his second term in office.

Furthermore, the Islamic Iran Participation Party (IIPP), the Association of Combatant Clergy (ACC) and most constituent members of the 2nd Khordad Front have announced that they would field no candidate except Khatami in the next presidential election.

However, when the president's Chief of Staff Mohammad-Ali Abtahi, also a member of the ACC, was asked whether Khatami would seek reelection, he said, "I know nothing about it."

Although most people strongly support Khatami's candidacy for a second term, they also expect him not to get involved in a game devised by his advisors, because they know Khatami is a clean politician (Mr. Clean).

It is true that politics is not always based on moral principles, and that the world is the scene of the clash of interests. But considering him a philosopher-king (Aristotle's utopian ruler), the people expect him to set a precedent in the history of Iran as a clean politician. This is not too much to expect, but what some of the president's aides are advising him to do is not what a clean politician is expected to do.

It is Khatami's right to try various tactics in his election campaign, but he is expected to avoid applying those tactics that may demote him to the rank of ordinary politicians.

Khatami is expected to introduce a new pattern of electioneering, the one applied by a clean philosopher-king who would never keep his nation in the dark, nor would he allow his aides to do so. At a certain stage there were some indications that Khatami might announce his candidacy, and the remarks made by his aides, who said he might run on a certain platform, strengthened this assumption. But then nothing happened.

Khatami has two options in this regard. That is to say, he can officially announce his candidacy and present his platform to the people, or he can launch his election campaign by making a commotion and ballyhoo. Those who give wrong information to Khatami about a crisis in the country every nine days, either do not know the meaning of crisis or exactly follow the second strategy.

Since the idea of presenting a platform to the people has been dropped, it seems that Khatami is now left with only one option, as explained above. What Khatami and his teammates should bear in mind is that when a president runs for a second term, he will poll fewer votes compared to the first term. Thus, instead of applying such tactics, if he tries to enlighten the people and increase their awareness, he will prove more successful, even if he polls fewer votes.

Indeed, fooling the nation would serve nobody's interest. It might pay off in the short term, but it would definitely boomerang in the long run.

President Khatami must run for a second term because he has an unfinished agenda, and he has to complete his plans and programs. And because he is the one to implement the third development plan, considering his knowledge of the problems facing our society today.

However, the president should also advise his aides to stop playing unfair tricks on the people.