The House of the President's Father

The House of the President's Father
09/04/2008

During my presidency, my parents used to live in their own house. It never crossed anybody's mind - neither mine nor anyone else's - to take advantage of my position as the president and renovate the house. There was a neighbor who was then constructing a building which overlooked our yard. As a result, my mother could no longer step in the yard without wearing a chador (an islamic custome for women). Some of our friends recommended that we ask the neighbor not to build such a tall building. We took our friends' advice, but the neighbors would not listen! There was no legal solution to that problem either, that is, the officials did not receive enough complaints to force the neighbor to build a slightly shorter building.

Such events come as a source of delight and assurance for everyone in a country and a government. Such events bear testimony to the fact that worldly positions and financial means never cause individuals to regard themselves as distinct from the general public, or that they are entitled to live in greater comfort.