London, Asharq Al-Awsat—Former Iranian president Mohammad Khatami has advised reformists to be cautious and rational in making demands on president-elect Hassan Rouhani.

During a meeting with a group of student activists in Tehran, Khatami called on the reformists to appreciate the achievement represented by Rouhani’s election. The former president also called on Iran’s reformist camp to be realistic in terms of the pace of change they expect president-elect Rouhani to set, the Entekhab website reported.

“We should not expect Rouhani’s government to rush to change everything quickly; the government cannot deliver a miracle. Problems such as inflation and unemployment will not be solved overnight”, Khatami said.

The main purpose of the meeting was to convey the demands of reformist students to president-elect Rouhani. Khatami also spoke about the future of reformist discourse as an evolutionary feature of the Islamic revolution.

The former president was clear to praise Supreme Guide Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s calls for election officials to accurately count every single vote.

Since Rouhani’s election victory was announced on Saturday, the president-elect has been besieged by international and domestic demands and calls. Many Iranians have directly expressed their demands and expectations of Iran’s new president via social networking websites such as Facebook or Twitter.

Most personal messages called on Rouhani to continue to demonstrate “honesty” and “transparency” in contrast to what many Iranians experienced under outgoing president Ahmadinejad.

“I expect Rouhani to keep being honest with the people who elected him with such fervor and enthusiasm during his presidency”, one Facebook user comment.

Another said: “I expect Rouhani to open the doors of negotiations with the US and to help remove the biting sanctions.”

A third Facebook user posted: “Rouhani should improve Iran’s relations with the international community and revive the lost respect and value of the Iranian passport”.

Former president Hashemi Rafsanjani—whose support for Rouhani was a major factor in his election—said: “The most important thing that we expect from Rouhani’s government is to maintain and boost the hopes he created amongst the people.”

Many principalists have expressed concern about the support that Rouhani achieved from the reformist camp, fearing that the reformists could be compensated with high office in the next government.

Prominent reformist Hamidreza Jalaeipour rejected such speculation, stressing: “The reformists do not expect to take major posts in Rouhani’s cabinet; they only expect that the ministries will be run by wise, appropriate, and capable figures,” according to the Entekhab website.

MP Iraj Nadimi emphasized that Rouhani’s government will be expected “to support domestic output and to develop good relations with other countries,” according to the Bazar-e Khabar website.

The urgency of Iran’ economic situation has been reflected in numerous editorials highlighting the objectives that the Rouhani government is expected to achieve. Iran’s media have called on Rouhani to make firm and wise decisions in a number of areas, including securing a fresh start in Tehran’s negotiation with the P5+1 over the nuclear file, strengthening the national currency, stabilizing the market, tackling inflation, deficit reduction, and adjusting and improving the state welfare system.

In addition to this, the Iranian electorate has also called on Rouhani to secure the release of political prisoners, and open up the cultural and political scene.