TEHRAN // Mehdi Karrubi, a reformist presidential contender, has promised to push for a change in the Iranian constitution to break the state monopoly on radio and television as well as to lift the ban on satellite TV. "This monopoly is one the most dangerous things that can threaten the political stability of the country in [the] long term and in times of crisis," Mr Karrubi said in a statement made public this week.
The outspoken 72-year-old former parliament speaker attempted to establish a satellite television channel after his defeat in the 2005 presidential election, but says he was prevented from doing so. Mr Karrubi has on many occasions criticised the state-run media for providing full support to Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Iran's president, and for excluding government critics from the news. Article 44 of the constitution of 1979 recognises a state monopoly on radio and television as well as in many other fields, including big industry, the postal service, insurance, banking and transportation.
However, in 2004, at the behest of the Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei, the Expediency Council, a body that was established as an intermediary between the all-powerful Guardian Council and parliament, removed the ban on private investment in most fields in an effort to liberalise the economy. The decision made private sector investment in banking, insurance and other fields possible, but the ban on private radio and television was unaffected and remains in place.
"Karrubi's idea is shared by all who want change, but I think it is not really practical given the circumstances," Behdad Ebrahimi, 42, a marketing manager, said. Amending the Constitution might prove difficult as a revision must be proposed by the supreme leader. The president or parliamentarians may also call for a referendum to change the constitution, but this can only be held after approval by the supreme leader and ratification by two-thirds of parliament.
In his statement, Mr Karrubi did not make clear how he plans to approach the issue, but Mohammad Javad Haghshenas, one of the founding members of Mr Karrubi's National Confidence Party (Etemad Melli) and managing director of the Etemad Melli newspaper, said that if Mr Karrubi is elected, a popular mandate could enable him to push the issue through the stringent constitutional revision process. "Revising the constitution is not something that can be done overnight, and how the proposed revision can be implemented is not the main issue at the moment," Gholam Hossein Karbaschi, Mr Karrubi's campaign manager, said.
Mr Karrubi's "main purpose now is to demonstrate [his own] tendencies as a presidential candidate". In the first round of the last presidential election in 2005, Mr Karrubi came third after Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani and Mr Ahmadinejad, who won. He alleged that organised intervention by the Revolutionary Guards and Basij militia and the manipulation of votes in Mr Ahmadinejad's favour changed the results of the elections.
Mr Karrubi said he has plans to prevent the same from happening again but would not go in to detail, fearing disclosure will help his adversaries. He formed his party in 2005 and was the first to officially stand in this year's elections. In several statements made public since his nomination, Mr Karrubi has promised to establish a national oil and gas company in which every citizen above 18 years of age would have shares. According to his proposed plan, all the revenues of the company would be distributed among citizen shareholders and the government's share of oil revenues would be limited to taxes.
Mr Karrubi stressed his wish to better implement the constitution and says the rights recognised in it, such as press and religious freedom, should be guaranteed. Results of several polls run by state agencies, and independent internet polls, indicate his popularity level to be below those of his main rivals, the incumbent Mr Ahmadinejad and the reformist Mir Hossein Mousavi, the former prime minister.
There have been unsuccessful attempts by other reformists to persuade Mr Karrubi to withdraw from the race to give Mr Mousavi a better chance against Mr Ahmadinejad. Mr Karrubi and his supporters reason that it will be nearly impossible for Mr Ahmadinejad to win more than 50 per cent of the votes in the first round of the elections and therefore the division of votes between the two reformist candidates will not lead to their defeat against hardliners and conservatives, known as Principlists.
The elections go to a second round if none of the candidates receives more than half of the votes. "One of us will win in the first round or there will be a run-off and all of us will support the reformist candidate [against Mr Ahmadinejad] in that case," Mr Karrubi has said. msinaiee@thenational.ae
