Memories of Akbar Hashemi - June 7, 2002

I spoke about the necessity of comprehensive insurance and mentioned that the poverty alleviation plan, which included insurance, housing, and more, was approved by the government and sent to the parliament. The new government took it back for completion and unfortunately, it never went back to the parliament. I emphasized that if insurance performs its duties well, people will be encouraged.

Complete text of the daily report:

The managers of the Health Insurance Organization came. Dr. Abolghasem Mousavi, the CEO of the Health Insurance Organization, reported and said that only 10% of the people are uninsured. They expressed gratitude to me for founding universal insurance and gave me a plaque of appreciation. They said that due to your government's decision, rural residents were insured for free, and now 22 million villagers do not have health concerns. I spoke about the necessity of comprehensive insurance and said that the poverty alleviation plan, which included insurance and housing, was approved by the government and sent to the parliament. The new government took it back as a completion and unfortunately did not send it to the parliament again. I emphasized that if insurance performs its duties well, people will be encouraged.

Mr. [Yadollah] Tahernejad, head of the Handicrafts Organization, has come and requested to participate in the congress for the anniversary of handicrafts. He consulted about running for the upcoming parliamentary elections. He is worried that, like the previous term, the Guardian Council will reject his qualifications. He said that many of the reformists are now disappointed. He himself is a member of the [Party of] Executive Builders [of Iran] and is a reformist. He mentioned that Mr. [Seyed Baqer] Mousavi, the representative from Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad, said that Mr. Khatami, [the President], does not pay attention to the representatives' comments during his trips to the provinces, and in a provincial administrative council meeting, he scolded him, saying that Yazdis are good for digging wells, and he added that Mr. Hashemi [Rafsanjani] listened for 40 minutes to his criticisms in that same administrative council meeting.

Mr. Jafari, the mayor of a district in the first area of Tehran, came and said that during the Reconstruction Government, the managers had dignity and power, but in this government, they are humiliated, especially the managers of Tehran's municipality. He mentioned that the halt of land sales has put the municipality in crisis. In the afternoon, Mr. Jaloul Al-Jaribi, the Minister of Religious Affairs and Endowments of Tunisia, arrived. The negotiations were friendly and ceremonial. He invited me to visit Tunisia, saying that the people of Tunisia would welcome me warmly.

The directors of the Ashura Cultural Institute, who take people to see war zones, came and sought help. Tensions in Palestine and the borders of Pakistan and India continue. Iran's successful test of the Shahab-3 missile has been a cause of concern for Israel. I officiated the marriage of one of my guards, Mr. Reza Moalem's brother.