The incoming parliament intends to focus on revitalizing the national economy mainly by boosting domestic production, said a prominent reformist who topped the list of the candidates recently elected to parliament from the Tehran constituency.
“The work of the 10th parliament will be based on Resistance Economy, and by promoting domestic production, we will take fundamental steps to address economic woes, particularly the issue of people’s livelihood and youth unemployment, to curb inflation and achieve economic growth,” Mohammad Reza Aref was also quoted as saying by IRNA.
The Resistance Economy is a set of guidelines introduced by the Leader of Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei to promote economic self-reliance and cut dependence on oil revenues.
Aref was speaking at a meeting with university professors and political activists in the central province of Markazi on Wednesday.
Ayatollah Khamenei has named the current Iranian year as the year of “Resistance Economy: Action and Implementation.”
He urged the academics to help the government implement its economic policies.
“The academia should step forward as members of the Majlis and government’s think tanks to help carry out this year’s motto,” he said.
Aref and fellow reformist candidates, who had joined supporters of moderate President Hassan Rouhani in an alliance against rival conservatives, made stunning gains in the February parliamentary elections. They swept all the 30 seats in the 290-member legislature exclusive to the main constituency Tehran. Runoffs are scheduled for later this month to decide the fate of 68 seats representing the 58 constituencies where candidates failed to win the required minimum 25% of the vote to enter the parliament at once.
“People made conscious choices at the ballot boxes and responded very well to the reformists’ agenda,” the head of the Reformist Policymaking Council said.
“We need to continue the path we have taken to win the second round as well. We should not be too satisfied with our win in the first round and … should encourage a large turnout.”
