Domestic Policies
During his first term as speaker of Parliament, Karroubi was among the maktabi or "radical" faction of the majlis who contested the policies of President Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani. While Rafsanjani favored foreign investment and market reforms, Karroubi and others "sought to promote mass political participation and maintain state control of the economy". In fall of 1989 several radical clerics founded the Association of Combatant Clerics of Tehran, which Karroubi headed. Karroubi eventually left this association in 2005 and founded his own party, Etemad-e-Melli.
His wife, Fatemeh, served as his social affairs advisors when he served as the chairman of the Majlis of Iran from 2000 until 2004.
Among politicians in the Islamic Republic, he has been one of the leading supporters of civil rights for citizens.
Karroubi was long an advocate of women's rights and the presence of women in all social activities. He has been supportive of women taking leadership roles within their political groups.
Mehdi Karroubi, an ethnic Lur, supports an approach where all people regardless of their gender, religion, or ethnicity can feel that they are part of Iranian government. He was outspoken in supporting the rights of religious and ethnic minorities. He visited churches, synagogues and Zoroastrian temples during his time as speaker of Parliament.
Mr Karroubi is a critic of the Guardian Council and on numerous occasions wrote letters to the council expressing his concerns. He criticized the nature of the Guardian Council's supervision over the elections, saying in 2009 "I have opposed the notion of 'approbation supervision' power since it was introduced 20 years ago … But, today the problem goes beyond 'approbation supervision'. What goes on today is not 'supervision' at all. Guardian Council inspectors hold absolute authority and control over the elections".
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