Talabani Supporters Rally Over Media Controversy
PUK officials back president’s much-criticised attempt to muzzle party members.
Talabani Supporters Rally Over Media Controversy
PUK officials back president’s much-criticised attempt to muzzle party members.
Close allies of Iraqi president Jalal Talabani have defended a controversial order barring members of his party from publicly criticising Kurdish parties.
Journalists and reformers in Talabani’s Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, PUK, have attacked the directive, arguing it is undemocratic and will undermine press freedom in the region.
Abid Aref, editor-in-chief of the independent newspaper Hawlati, said the order “will impact democratic development and the media’s work in Kurdistan. We’re going to lose sources because they will be afraid to talk”.
“This directive will close the door to the modern political practice of transparency,” said Twana Osman an independent journalist. “The party is ….hiding its ugly sides and secrets.”
But allies of the president have rallied around the president.
Emad Ahmed, a member of the PUK politburo, said the leader was entitled to issue the order.
"This is a party decision, Talabani is the secretary general of the party and he has every right to give instruction to the members in a way that it is in the interest of the people and the party," he said.
The directive, which was published on the Kurdish news website Sbeiy on March 29, threatens party members with possible expulsion if they publicly criticise the PUK or the Kurdistan Democratic Party, KDP, particularly in interviews with “unfriendly” or “spiteful” newspapers.
The order applies to all PUK members, who could face trial in party courts if they speak badly of the PUK to the press. The maximum sentence would be expulsion from the party, according to the directive.
While the order gives PUK members permission to freely critique the party in committee meetings and party centres, it maintains that public criticism “damages unity”.
Ahmed said the order was necessary to ensure that members put party interests first.
"In every political party there are rights and duties. It is not possible to work within a party and have rights without doing your duties, [or to] reveal private party issues to outsiders,” he said.
He pointed out that under the directive, members are entitled to express themselves within the party freely, and can also publicly discuss any other non-party issues.
"This decision will serve the PUK and it will not undermine transparency, because transparency is not to talk whenever and wherever you get a chance," he added.
Azad Jundiani, head of PUK’s central media bureau, also defended the order.
“Some members of the party, even high-ranking members, want to hurt the party,” he said. “I’m totally for Talabani’s decision.”
IWPR attempted to reach Talabani's press office for a comment but was unable to get through.
The PUK and KDP dominate power in Iraqi Kurdistan, with the independent Kurdish media, which is based in the northeastern city of Sulaimaniyah, highly critical of local and regional authorities run by the parties.
Turmoil inside of the PUK has made headlines in the local press in recent months as party members have spoken out about internal power struggles, reforms and corruption. The party is also split over whether members who collaborated with Saddam Hussein’s regime should be ousted.
Many of those pushing for reforms are loyal to Nawshirwan Mustafa, a PUK founder who built a powerful media organisation after leaving the party in 2006.
Some journalists speculated that Talabani issued the order after Mustafa’s flagship newspaper Rozhnama published an interview with PUK member Jamal Miraza Aziz in which he accused Kurdish leaders of corruption.
Jundiani said that the directive was not related to any one interview.
“It’s been accumulating for a long time,” he said, in reference to the party members’ criticisms. “This is a way to make [PUK members] stop bashing the party in newspapers.”
“This isn’t a big deal. The party is organising itself. [The directive] is not anti-democratic.”
But a member of the PUK, who spoke on the condition on anonymity, disagreed, calling the decision “scary”. Though he said that while it would "suppress opposition voices" temporarily, it would not prove effective long-term.
“Some members might be punished, but people can’t just keep silent forever,” he added.
Independent journalism in Sulaimaniyah has flourished since the Ba’ath regime was ousted five years ago. Even virulent critics of the PUK acknowledge that it is generally more open than the KDP. The KDP controls the Iraqi Kurdistan capital of Erbil, and journalists often complain about the lack of access to official and unofficial sources there.
Khabat Abdullah, editor-in-chief of the Sbeiy website, which Mustafa also owns, said of the Talabani order, “For a party that claims to be a socialist democratic party, this isn’t just a tragedy. It’s also comical.”
The Kurdistan Journalists Syndicate, an organisation loyal to the government, has yet to comment on Talabani’s order. Zirak Kamal, secretary of the union, said it will announce its position once it has evidence that the decision restricts the media’s work.
“This is a party decision directed at party members, not independent [newspapers],” he said.
The directive is not Talabani’s first challenge to the Kurdish media. In January, the president sued Hawlati for defamation and republishing fabricated information.
Hawlati had published a translated article from the American Enterprise Institute that accused Talabani and Kurdistan Regional Government president Masood Barzani of amassing fortunes. If convicted, Aref could face six months to one year in prison.
Azeez Mahmood and Rebaz Mahmood are IWPR-trained journalists in Sulaimaniyah.
Journalists and reformers in Talabani’s Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, PUK, have attacked the directive, arguing it is undemocratic and will undermine press freedom in the region.
Abid Aref, editor-in-chief of the independent newspaper Hawlati, said the order “will impact democratic development and the media’s work in Kurdistan. We’re going to lose sources because they will be afraid to talk”.
“This directive will close the door to the modern political practice of transparency,” said Twana Osman an independent journalist. “The party is ….hiding its ugly sides and secrets.”
But allies of the president have rallied around the president.
Emad Ahmed, a member of the PUK politburo, said the leader was entitled to issue the order.
"This is a party decision, Talabani is the secretary general of the party and he has every right to give instruction to the members in a way that it is in the interest of the people and the party," he said.
The directive, which was published on the Kurdish news website Sbeiy on March 29, threatens party members with possible expulsion if they publicly criticise the PUK or the Kurdistan Democratic Party, KDP, particularly in interviews with “unfriendly” or “spiteful” newspapers.
The order applies to all PUK members, who could face trial in party courts if they speak badly of the PUK to the press. The maximum sentence would be expulsion from the party, according to the directive.
While the order gives PUK members permission to freely critique the party in committee meetings and party centres, it maintains that public criticism “damages unity”.
Ahmed said the order was necessary to ensure that members put party interests first.
"In every political party there are rights and duties. It is not possible to work within a party and have rights without doing your duties, [or to] reveal private party issues to outsiders,” he said.
He pointed out that under the directive, members are entitled to express themselves within the party freely, and can also publicly discuss any other non-party issues.
"This decision will serve the PUK and it will not undermine transparency, because transparency is not to talk whenever and wherever you get a chance," he added.
Azad Jundiani, head of PUK’s central media bureau, also defended the order.
“Some members of the party, even high-ranking members, want to hurt the party,” he said. “I’m totally for Talabani’s decision.”
IWPR attempted to reach Talabani's press office for a comment but was unable to get through.
The PUK and KDP dominate power in Iraqi Kurdistan, with the independent Kurdish media, which is based in the northeastern city of Sulaimaniyah, highly critical of local and regional authorities run by the parties.
Turmoil inside of the PUK has made headlines in the local press in recent months as party members have spoken out about internal power struggles, reforms and corruption. The party is also split over whether members who collaborated with Saddam Hussein’s regime should be ousted.
Many of those pushing for reforms are loyal to Nawshirwan Mustafa, a PUK founder who built a powerful media organisation after leaving the party in 2006.
Some journalists speculated that Talabani issued the order after Mustafa’s flagship newspaper Rozhnama published an interview with PUK member Jamal Miraza Aziz in which he accused Kurdish leaders of corruption.
Jundiani said that the directive was not related to any one interview.
“It’s been accumulating for a long time,” he said, in reference to the party members’ criticisms. “This is a way to make [PUK members] stop bashing the party in newspapers.”
“This isn’t a big deal. The party is organising itself. [The directive] is not anti-democratic.”
But a member of the PUK, who spoke on the condition on anonymity, disagreed, calling the decision “scary”. Though he said that while it would "suppress opposition voices" temporarily, it would not prove effective long-term.
“Some members might be punished, but people can’t just keep silent forever,” he added.
Independent journalism in Sulaimaniyah has flourished since the Ba’ath regime was ousted five years ago. Even virulent critics of the PUK acknowledge that it is generally more open than the KDP. The KDP controls the Iraqi Kurdistan capital of Erbil, and journalists often complain about the lack of access to official and unofficial sources there.
Khabat Abdullah, editor-in-chief of the Sbeiy website, which Mustafa also owns, said of the Talabani order, “For a party that claims to be a socialist democratic party, this isn’t just a tragedy. It’s also comical.”
The Kurdistan Journalists Syndicate, an organisation loyal to the government, has yet to comment on Talabani’s order. Zirak Kamal, secretary of the union, said it will announce its position once it has evidence that the decision restricts the media’s work.
“This is a party decision directed at party members, not independent [newspapers],” he said.
The directive is not Talabani’s first challenge to the Kurdish media. In January, the president sued Hawlati for defamation and republishing fabricated information.
Hawlati had published a translated article from the American Enterprise Institute that accused Talabani and Kurdistan Regional Government president Masood Barzani of amassing fortunes. If convicted, Aref could face six months to one year in prison.
Azeez Mahmood and Rebaz Mahmood are IWPR-trained journalists in Sulaimaniyah.
