IRAQI PRESS MONITOR, No. 202, December 2, 2004

To access the Iraqi Press Monitor on the web, please go to: http://www.iwpr.net/index.pl?iraq_ipm_index.html

****************** VISIT IWPR ON-LINE: http://www.iwpr.net ***************

IRAQI PRESS MONITOR, 02 Dec 04

GOVERNMENT CAN’T CHANGE ELECTION DATE SAYS YAWER

(Al-Sabah al-Jadeed) – President Sheikh Ghazi al-Yawer yesterday insisted the Iraqi government is legally and morally committed to the date of elections as stated in the transitional administrative law. He pointed out that the government has no legal right to change the date and should not interfere with it. He also officially announced the establishment of a political entity called Iraqiyoon, or Iraqis.
(Al-Sabah al-Jadeed is an independent daily paper.)

ELECTIONS SHOULD BE DELAYED SAYS DEFENCE MINISTER

(Al-Nahdhah) – Minister of Defence Hazim al-Shalan yesterday questioned the possibility of holding elections on January 30 because the security circumstances were not good enough. "I have the impression that not all the necessary requirements to hold elections have been met and there is a problem related to security," Shalan said. He expressed dissatisfaction with security since "the borders are open and enemies and terrorists can enter from the neighbouring countries.” Still, he gave no hint of bucking government plans for the elections, saying “I am a military man who obeys orders."
(Al-Nahdhah is a daily newspaper issued by Adnan al-Pachachi, head of Independent Democrats Movement.)

PACHACHI DOES ELECTORAL U-TURN

(Al-Mutamar) – Adnan al-Pachachi is reportedly in trouble after calling for a delay in the elections at a meeting held at his house for a number of political figures and parties. Pachachi told media outlets that lack of security deterred the holding of elections, contradicting his own observations a few weeks ago when saying that the chance of elections must not be lost. Political observers wonder what made Pachachi change his mind so completely.
(Al-Mutamar is issued daily by the Iraqi National Congress.)

KURDISH PARTIES UNITE ON LIST OF CANDIDATES

(Asharq al-Awsat) – The two main Kurdish parties, the Democratic Party of Kurdistan and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, have decided to run in the parliamentary elections on a common list that also includes a moderate Islamic fundamentalist party as well as representatives of the Turkomen and Christian minorities in the Kurdistan region. KDP leader Masoud Barazani yesterday said "the current circumstances compel us to watch the destiny of Kurdistan and participate in one list to guarantee the Kurdish people's rights in Iraq." He added that "as long as the Shia agreed on their candidates' list to run elections, the Kurds will also have their own list.”
(London-based Asharq al-Awsat, a Saudi independent paper, is issued daily.)

COMMUNISTS LEFT OFF KURDISH ELECTORAL LIST

(Al-Mada) – The Kurdish political parties did not ask the Iraqi Communist Party to join their unified list of candidates for the January 30 elections, according to CP Secretary General Hameed Majeed Moosa. Kurdish leaders pointed out the possibility of asking leftist parties to join their electoral list after the list of the Shia religious parties was joined by Shia secular figures. Moosa said the CP would be happy to join in on the Kurdish parties’ list if invited.
(Al-Mada is issued daily by Al-Mada institution for Media, Culture, and Arts.)

IRAQ HAS 260 CASES OF AIDS

(Azzaman) – Iraq has 260 AIDS cases, 85 per cent of which are males, and 15 per cent females, according to Wadhah Hamid, the head of the preparatory committee for the first conference on AIDS held by the Ministry of Health. Hamid added that 189 cases existed among non-Iraqi arrivals in Basra and Karbala, mostly from South Africa, Zambia, and Djibouti.
(London-based Azzaman is issued daily by Saad al-Bazaz.)

INCREASE SOUGHT IN PILGRIM QUOTA

(Addaawa) – The Supreme Pilgrimage Committee has been negotiating with Saudi officials to increase the quota of Iraqi pilgrims by 50 per cent to 45,000 from 30,000 to accommodate rising demand. Director General of Islamic Information at the Shia Endowment Board Salah Abdul Razzaq said steps were being taken to increase the number of Iraqi pilgrims after years of waiting.
(Addaawa is a daily paper issued by the Islamic Dawa Party.)

CARTOON: (Al-Mutamar) – A wrecking ball marked “postponing elections” on a vehicle marked “the latest parties” aims for a wall marked “the political process”. The cartoon suggests that parties calling for postponement of the elections are actually destroying the political process. The cartoon uses the word “latest”, which in colloquial Iraqi Arabic designates newly emerging things as bad.


****************** VISIT IWPR ON-LINE: http://www.iwpr.net ***************