After Presidency
Post-presidency, Rafsanjani delivered a sermon at Tehran University in the summer of 1999 praising government use of force to suppress student demonstrations.
In 2000, in the first election after the end of his presidency, Rafsanjani ran again for Parliament. In the Tehran contest, Rafsanjani came in 30th, or last, place. At first he was not among the 30 representatives of Tehran elected, as announced by the Iranian Ministry of the Interior, but the Council of Guardians then ruled numerous ballots void, leading to accusations of ballot fraud in Rafsanjani's favor. Rafsanjani thus became a Majlis representative, but resigned before being sworn in. He explained that he felt he was "able to serve the people better in other posts".
Rafsanjani is the current Chairman of the Expediency Discernment Council, that resolves legislative issues between the Majlis and the Council of Guardians.
In December 2006, Rafsanjani was elected to the Assembly of Experts representing Tehran with more than 1.5 million votes, which was more than any other candidate. Ahmadinejad opponents won majority of local election seats. On September 4, 2007 he was elected Chairman of the Assembly of Experts, the body that selects Iran's supreme leader, in what was considered a blow to the supporters of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. He was running against Ahmad Jannati. Rafsanjani was re-elected to the position on March 10, 2009, running against Mohammad Yazdi. He received 51 votes compared to Yazdi's 26. On 8 March 2011 he withdrew from the election. Ayatollah Mohammad Reza Mahdavi Kani is the new Chairman.
Rafsanjani is currently sought by the Argentinian government for ordering the 1994 AMIA bombing in Buenos Aires.
In more recent years, Rafsanjani has advocated freedom of expression, tolerance and civil society. In a speech on July 17, 2009, Rafsanjani criticized restriction of media and suppression of activists, and put emphasis on the role and vote of people in the Islamic Republic constitution. The event has been considered by analysts as the most important and most turbulent Friday prayer in the history of contemporary Iran. Nearly 1.5-2.5 million people attended the speech in Tehran.
Read more about this topic: Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani
Famous quotes containing the word presidency:
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