Iran’s Organized Reformers

Mehdi Karrubi is the Al Gore of Iran. According to him, but for vote-rigging he would have been the president and not Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. The cleric is leader of the National Trust Party, founded after his 2005 defeat, and was a speaker of Iran's Parliament, or Majlis. Even though he is a reformist, he believes that President Mohammad Khatami allowed radicalism to tank the reform movement. In his first interview with the western media, Karrubi, 69, talked with NEWSWEEK'S Maziar Bahari about this week's Majlis elections. Excerpts:

BAHARI: A few days ago the headline of your party's newspaper was KARRUBI IS WORRIED. Why were you worried?
KARRUBI: A large number of very good people who could be Majlis candidates were disqualified [by the Council of Guardians and the Ministry of Interior]. Nonetheless, we have lobbied high-ranking officials and different parts of the government and the situation has improved.

So you are not worried anymore?
I'm worried but less so.

When the Guardians can veto bills, what gain is even a powerful Majlis minority?
The Council of Guardians has a responsibility to make sure that the Majlis bills are in accordance with the teachings of Islam. Of course, at times we have suffered from a narrow-minded approach, but they are not as narrow-minded as some people think. And you can solve most problems by lobbying the members of the Council and other high-ranking officials of the Islamic Republic.

Is democracy in Iran only possible within the constraints of traditional methods, like lobbying and backroom negotiations?
Democracy means different things in different societies. We don't have the same situation as in Germany. There are people, like me, who know where they live and how to adapt democracy to their own country. There are others who, as soon as they have an opportunity, start abusing this freedom. Like those people who ridicule religion as soon as they can. These people give an excuse to the reactionaries who make an all-out assault against anyone who talks about democracy.

What are your main criticisms of the reformist movement during Khatami's era?
The most important of all was their destructionist approach. They questioned the "Islamic" component of the Islamic Republic. The Islamic Republic is a government chosen by people in a country where the majority of people are Muslim. On the other hand, these days there are people who are questioning the "Republic" aspect of our system of government and don't respect people's votes.