|
Kurdistan's Oil and the Opposition Party
28.8.2010
By Adnan Osman, the head of the Gorran fraction in
the Kurdistan Parliament in Iraq |
|
|
|
August
28, 2010
It is said that Gorran [the major opposition
movement of Iraqi Kurdistan] has to apologize to the
government regarding the matter of oil exportation.
And the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) [one of the
two ruling parties] has sued Rozhnama, a Gorran
newspaper, for
one billion US dollar over an article
the paper had
published about alleged smuggling of
oil by the two ruling parties to Iran. The other
ruling party’s chairman threatens to take us (Gorran)
to the court as well.
As for Rozhnama, they can themselves have a reply.
If the investigations showed that there had been
flaws or exaggerations in the news published by the
Gorran news channels, then it will be a normal thing
for Gorran to apologize. Such an apology is a part
of the professionalism and ethics of the media.
Here, as a parliamentarian of the Gorran faction, I
would like to talk about the stance of parliament
and the Gorran law makers have had on the issue.
The funny thing is that political party and
government officials have asked the opposition to
apologize. In fact the most unlawful thing in the
oil issue is this demand.
|
Adnan Osman, Gorran's Kurdish MP in Kurdistan
parliament. Photo: curdonia com |
I think those who have
asked the opposition to apologize have neither
understood the role and duty the parliament has nor
those of opposition. They are not viewing the
parliament the way they should.
Let us take a look what the opposition has said over
this issue, and then decide how unreasonable this
demand was.
The opposition had asked for clarification from the
government. This is an ordinary right of the
opposition since it represents a portion of the
population of this region. The opposition had also
asked the parliament speaker to hold an immediate
session to discuss the issue and to hear the
officials involved in the oil business. For
parliament it is a very easy task to hold a session
and call on the government officials to attend
explaining issues. This would have brought
transparency to the issue. Not having done so is a
democratic deficit. The parliament has to respect
its constituencies.
Hundreds of oil tankers queue at the border on a
daily basis before the eyes of a people whose
districts and towns are in a very bad shape. Lack of
services, hundreds of unemployed youth, bad
electricity,www.ekurd.netbumpy
roads, tens of other such problems is prevalent in
these towns. Yet the citizens are not allowed to say
where does this oil go? How much is its incomes? Who
takes the revenues? Is it not the parliamentarians’
duty to question the government over such an issue?
Is it not the parliament’s duty to investigate all
the contradictory statements made by the government
officials?
Does a democratic system operate by false promise
and closed-door discussions or operate by discussing
the problems in the legal institutions of the state?
The government says they do not have anything to
hide about the oil issue. They claim to be
transparent. If so then why does the government not
explain the truth to the people and parliament?
The opposition parliamentarians have not accused
anyone. They have not called anyone a thief or a
smuggler. But they have simply asked for an
investigation of the subject. They have asked for
clarification and details about the issue. This oil
is pumped under the feet of the citizens of this
country. This means the oil is every single
citizen’s oil. It is not to be manipulated by one
person, one company or one political party.
Therefore, the parliament has to investigate the
subject and inform the public about the issue.
When media provokes a subject, it is parliament’s
duty to follow that particular subject and present
the reality to the people.
Therefore, it is not the opposition who should
apologize, but the minister, and those who are in
charge of this issue and the government should
apologize to the opposition. They should not
trespass the limits of the Kurdistan’s legislative
power. They should facilitate for the
parliamentarians to see all the files related to
this matter.
Certainly, the opposition is not going to apologize.
But it asks for information about each drop of the
oil, and each dinar made out of the oil. This is the
right of the opposition and all the parliamentarians
as well as all the people of the Kurdistan region.
Adnan Osman is head of the Gorran Fraction in the
Kurdistan Parliament in Iraq.
Copyright, respective
author or news agency, rudaw net
Top |
Kurd Net
does not take credit for and is not responsible for the content of news
information on this page
|
®
