First, I would like to congratulate you on the auspicious birth anniversary of Hazrat Seddiqeh Tahereh (greetings be upon her) and the beginning of the Government Week.
The reports presented at this meeting were very informative, and it is also necessary to inform the public of such details and statistics.
What I would like to stress is that it is the government that is the main player in different arenas of the country, and any success that it achieves is viewed as the success of the Islamic system. If, God forbid, the government fails to make progress or succeed in its various activities, this failure or lack of success will be attributed to the whole system. In other words, it is not possible to separate the executive arms of the system from the system itself. It is not possible to say that our government is inefficient, but that our system is successful!
The success of the system manifests itself in the success of the government, which is the main organ running the country. Nobody should ignore the fact that the success of the government is a national and revolutionary aspiration. All those who care about the fate of the country and the system should pray for the success of the government in different areas, and they should also make every effort to achieve this goal. If due to certain differences of opinion or based on some wrong political analyses, someone thinks otherwise or takes certain measures to hinder the government's success, this is by no means acceptable.
However, this does not mean that nobody should criticize the government, since criticism is different from weakening the government. If criticism is fair and constructive, it is even beneficial. But even if criticism is not fair, it will not be able to influence public opinion or change the realities. Thus, I do not intend to say that criticism should be forbidden, but I do say that mudslinging and defamation should be forbidden. There is no justification for defaming the government.
There are of course certain problems and obstacles facing the government. In general, there are hurdles in the way of all constructive activities. In fact, ever since the victory of the Islamic Revolution, there have been many obstacles facing the whole system. But nobody should be frightened, disappointed or stopped by the obstacles. Instead, efforts should be made to remove, surmount or circumvent these obstacles.
I believe if we perform our duties in a responsible manner and on a logical basis, even if there are certain flaws in our performance we will not be taken to task by the Almighty, as "Allah does not impose upon any soul a duty but to the extent of its ability;..."(2:286) We will not be censured by the people either. We should do our utmost and try to perform our duties on a logical basis, but of course it is clear that our logic is not always flawless.
The cabinet ministers can play an important part in this regard. This is what I have often mentioned to Mr. Khatami. I had also mentioned this to the former president. The cabinet ministers can play a crucial role in logical discussions that naturally lead to logical and effective decisions.
Today, it is a great asset that our government officials are all devoted, revolutionary and perseverant in their efforts and that our esteemed president is doing his utmost to accomplish the objectives of the Islamic system. And indeed, great efforts have been made both by the present cabinet and the first cabinet of President Khatami. However, as I said earlier, the people are not well informed of the government's achievements, and those in charge of the public relations offices should conduct their information transmission more appropriately in order to inform the public of what has so far been achieved by the government.
Besides, a negative propaganda campaign has been launched against this country that is aimed at portraying our system and our government as inefficient. These propagandists that divide our political circles into conservatives and reformists and claim that they support one camp and oppose the other have never said, for instance, that the Iranian Ministry of Industries has made such and such achievements, or a project to construct some 120 dams in this country is currently under study or implementation. They have never talked about the considerable rise in the number of Iranian students or their scientific achievements. In general, they never refer to the achievements of the Islamic Republic, even if such achievements have been made by the political camp that they call reformists and claim to support!
What is the reason for this? The reason is that due to their evil aims and hostile intentions against the Islamic system, they will never acknowledge our achievements, but if there is a flaw or shortcoming in some part of the system, they will magnify that shortcoming and attribute it to the whole system. This propaganda campaign is aimed at portraying the Islamic system and its branches like the Executive and the Judiciary as inefficient as well as disappointing the people and dispiriting the officials.
You should take the necessary action to counteract this propaganda campaign. Infuse the managers and staff of different government organs with high spirits and inspire them to work more enthusiastically.
Another point that once again I would like to stress is that you should take the issue of combating corruption more seriously. You see, you do the planning for constructive activities and obtain the necessary budget and economize on spending in order to create more jobs in the industrial, agricultural, service or construction sectors. But if this public money is funneled into the pockets of certain profiteers, this will be very worrying and harmful to the country.
Today, some in the country are seeking to justify corruption, but some others are trying to exaggerate it. I believe both are wrong. We should neither seek to justify corruption nor try to magnify it. Some wrongly believe that corruption is rife and prevalent! There are clear signs indicating that this assumption mostly stems from the negative propaganda against this country, which is aimed at disheartening and frustrating the public.
However, others who are trying to justify corruption attempt to portray any measure against corruption as a political move and describe the anti-corruption campaign as politically motivated! Their intention is to slow down or even derail the campaign against corruption.
I believe that everywhere in the world, combating corruption is mainly the task of the Executive rather than the Judiciary. Fortunately, our senior government officials like ministers and vice presidents are all honest and virtuous individuals. Therefore, they can play a major role in combating corruption. It is the duty of the Judiciary to take the final measures in this regard and conduct the necessary investigations at the request of the Executive.
Therefore, I would like to ask you to take the issue of combating corruption more seriously and take the necessary action in this respect. A few years ago, I said that the real reform in the country constitutes combating poverty, corruption and discrimination. Now as the days go by, my belief in this idea becomes even stronger. It is not possible to conduct any reform in the country without dealing with these maladies first. Combating poverty, corruption and indiscrimination is a prerequisite for all reforms.