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Talabani faction's war against freedom of
expression
20.9.2007
Translated by Dr Kamal Mirawdeli from Hawlati
newspaper, issue 12 Sep 07 |
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Report by Aland Mahwi and Pishtiwan Abdulla: "PUK
punishes its senior cadres on the excuse of
breaching party code.
September 20, 2007
Sulaimaniyah, Kurdistan region 'Iraq', -- In
the newest surprising changes the political bureau
of Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) led by the
Secretary General of this party Mr Jalal Talabani,
started to punish a number of its senior cadres in
order to ‘’ stop the breaching of party code by some
members of the party who make statements to the
media as they wish.’’ The party members who have
been punished are those who have criticized the
Kurdish leadership and especially PUK in the media.
And in order to organize and control the media
policy of the party, the member of PUK political
bureau Arsalan Bayiz has been appointed as the
coordinator of the media bureau of PUK.
The recent changes in PUK are different from
previous changes that happened within the party
which concerned the conflict among different wings
of the party. Those who have been chosen for
punishment this time are not at the level of members
of political bureau. This reduces the prospect of
any [reformist] changes in preparation for the third
conference of the party.
In a press conference convened on 7th September
2007, Mr Jalal Talabani talked about PUK media in
general and the official in charge of the PUK
information centre Mr Aazad Jundiyani in this way: “
Mr Azad Jundiyani is free as his name [Azad which
means free] but he is not free in his media work
because the freedom of Azad Jundiyani is tied to the
policy of the PUK. But an independent newspaper is
free in deciding what to publish. For us it is
different. [The Islamic Republic of] Iran has
complained that in this month alone 167 negative
items about Iran have been published on PUK website.
We are obliged to take account of what we say
sometimes because what we say has implications for
the interests of our people.”
According to information obtained by Hawlati the
previous official in charge of centre 15 of PUK
organization in Chamchamal Mr Sirwan Kwekha Najm
would be investigated by a special committee. Mr
Najm told Hawlati: I have not been formally informed
but I have heard that I would be interrogated by a
special committee because of my criticisms of the
PUK.
In a recent interview with Hawlati newspaper Sirwan
Kwekha Najm has criticized PUK saying “ I have been
working in my garden for five years and now I have
some products from it. But I have been with PUK for
thirty years without a result. Those I consider my
seniors and leaders in PUK have never paid any
attention to me. Perhaps the PUK political bureau
members do not consider themselves my leaders. Some
of the present leaders of PUK were my comrades when
we were peshmargas [in the mountains]. Alas, they
have now become merchants and they are only
concerned with their own factions and gangs.’’
On the other hand, the name of the official in
charge of Kirkuk TV channel Arif Qurbani is being
mentioned as one of the people singled out for
punishment. He has already been sacked. In a
statement to Hawalti he explained that he has been
sacked because in a statement to [the independent]
Nawa radio he criticized the party leadership and
talked about the situation in Kirkuk.
In the said interview with Nawa radio, Arif Qurbai
strongly criticized PUK and Kurdistan Democratic
Party (KDP) and the Kurdish regional government. He
said, “ As a result of ignoring the people of Kirkuk,
the population of Kirkuk are fed up with the Kurdish
parties and Kurdish regional government and some
conditions have made the people of Kirkuk reluctant
to accept the reintegration of Kirkuk to Kurdistan
region. In this interview Arif Qurbai further said,
“ I call upon the people of Kirkuk to ignore the
abuses of PUK and KDP and ignore the negligence
shown towards them by Kurdistan regional government.
We must work together to force PUK and KDP to work
for the people of Kirkuk.
On the other hand, the head of [PUK’s] Green List in
Kurdistan parliament has been criticized by Talabani
in the last two months because he withdrew from
participating in the debate on
the draft laws of oil and employment. Talabani
criticized him and described his action in
parliament as ‘wrong’.
The head of PUK group in Kurdistan parliament Osman
Kani Marani is now one of the persons whose name has
been enlisted for investigation and punishment. He
has already been dismissed from his position. About
the reasons for his dismissal, He told Hawlati:
Neither PUK political bureau nor the Genearl
Secretary [ Jalal Talabani ] has informed me but I
think the reason for my dismissal is [my position
on] the draft law of oil and gas. We [PUK list]
delayed this project in parliament so that we would
have enough time to debate it. But the political
bureaus of PUK and KDP did not like this.
In his latest interview with Hawalti, Kani Marani
criticized the members of Kurdistan parliament. He
said: those members of parliament who did not like
my position think that the meetings of parliament
are the same as the meetings between KDP and PUK.
They have right to think in this way because every
issue and draft law that comes to parliament has
been previously discussed and agreed by the Green [PUK]
and Yellow [KDP] blocks.
Political and media experts consider these changes
within PUK as an attempt to limit the freedom of
expression, at the same time they want party cadres
to obey the rules and codes of the political
parties.
Mr Muhammad, a lecturer in media studies in the
University of Sulaimaniyah, told Hawlati; Whether we
like it or not, any person who becomes a member of a
political party must have direct commitment to that
party. Party discipline is designed to quickly
implement the basic principles on which a party has
agreed.
He added: It is good for party to have critics
within its own ranks but [punishment for this] must
not amount to dismissal. In terms of the effect of
these changes on the press he said: We are
responsible for increasing the scope of freedom of
expression. When we see such actions we see in them
indicators for narrowing the scope of freedom of
expression.
He added: We are now at a crossroads when on the one
hand the political power wants to restrict the
freedom of expression and on the other hand people
must work to increase and enhance this freedom.
It is believed that the punishment of this group of
critical cadres of PUK for their criticism of PUK,
KDP and the regional government is a part of the
implementation of the recent ‘strategic agreement’
between PUK and KDP. One important element of this
agreement is thought to be stop media war between
the two parties and withdraw their support from all
those websites and newspaper that have been
publishing critical news and items against each
either party. They have also agreed to coordinate
their response to the criticism published against
them in the media.
In a related event, the Roshnayi website which was
dedicated to the publishing of secrets and attacks
against PUK, was closed down few days ago.
Translated by Dr Kamal Mirawdeli from Hawlati
newspaper, Sulaimaniyah, bi-weekly independent
newspaper in Sorani Kurdish, 12 Sep 07, p4
Report by Aland Mahwi and Pishtiwan Abdulla: "PUK
punishes its senior cadres on the excuse of
breaching party code.
kurdistanreferendum org
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