IRAQI PRESS MONITOR, 24 Jun 05

OPINION: CONSTITUTION SHOULD BE PROTECTED FROM LEADERS

By Esa al-Sayid Jafar

(Al-Bayyna, 18 June 2005) - With the help of God, we started our trip of a thousand miles. We started the trip of writing the permanent constitution, which has been absent on the Iraqi political scene for more than 50 years during which the ruler practiced his authority as he wished without any regulations. In a country like Iraq, the constitution writers should take in to consideration the interests of the majority at the expense of the ruling minority, the humanitarian Islamic characteristics, the relations between the authorities with the people, and should vividly decide the rights and duties with out any ambiguity. The constitution should concentrate on democracy, which has been absent for 35 years and should pay special care to the youth who are the corner stone of the nation's future. The most important thing is that the constitution should protect itself from the violations of the rulers. It should be written by honest Iraqis who put the interest of Iraq as the top priority and who fear God when dealing with every single item of the constitution. (Al-Bayyna is a weekly paper issued by the Hezbollah Movement in Iraq.)

OPINION: CONSTITUTION SHOULD BE WRITTEN FOR ALL IRAQIS

By Iyad Rasool

(Al-Ittihad, 20 June 2005) - In order not to use Article C of the interim law, the constitution should be written in a way that it is compatible with all the representatives of Iraqis. Thus, we could have a constitution for all Iraqis. The committee to draft the constitution has already started its mission, with the participation of Sunni Arabs. From now until August 15, the future of the transitional period will be decided. It will either put an end to it or prolong it for another transitional phase, which is not liked by neither the local forces nor the foreign bodies. The most important thing is that nobody will use Article C upon feeling that the draft of the constitution is violating its rights. As for the Kurdish stance, Jalal Talabani and Massoud Barzani pointed out that the constitution should refer to the legal Kurdish rights. We should count on compatibility in writing the constitution because it is not the issue of the minority and majority in a country of multi-ethnicity and many religions. Any violation to the compatibility will result in the domination of a certain body, which might repeat the same mistakes Iraqis have been suffering from since the foundation of the Iraqi state. (Al-Ittihad is published daily by the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan.)

OPINION: OIL MINISTRY INCAPABLE OF DEALING WITH PROBLEMS

By Hatim Hassan

(Al-Mashriq, 23 June 2005) - The Oil Ministry has solved its problems and Iraqis can now handle the purchases issues. It is getting rid of the corruptive elements that cause the oil crises by assigning director generals to directly supervise petrol stations themselves. The oil revenue has lost billions of dollars through oil smuggling by tankers and through creating the crises in the local market. We still notice street sellers distributing oil all around the country despite the fact that high-ranking officials of the ministry are supervising petrol stations. This should cause the ministry to admit its insufficiency and incapability to deal with the crisis, as the thieves are still practicing their thefts and we still import oil from neighboring states. By asking its senior officials to supervise the oil issues, the ministry uses its last bullet, which is not exploding. (Al-Mashriq is published daily by Al-Mashriq Institution for Media and Cultural Investments.)

OPINION: HOW CAN RESTAURANT OWNERS PROTECT THEIR BUSINESS?

By Saleem Rasool

(Al-Bayan, 21 June 2005) - The barbers could avoid the attacks of insurgents by putting placards on their shops announcing they have stopped given western-style hair cuts. But things are quite different with restaurant owners. How can they avoid insurgent attacks? Is it by writing they are not receiving the police and other security elements, is it by not allowing journalists and other media to enter the restaurant to eat? Weeks ago they targeted the Habayebna restaurant in the Talbiya area under the allegation that police have lunch there, but all the victims were civilians. Yesterday, a suicide bomber exploded him self in Ibn Zanboor restaurant close to the Green Zone area to free Iraq from the occupiers. There is no way out for restaurant owners to safeguard themselves and restaurants from saboteurs who think they can have dinner with Prophet Mohammed (peace be upon him) by exploding themselves. Those people are so stupid and shallow minded. People should cooperate with the security forces to get rid of those terrorists who, if we don't eliminate them, will keep killing us. (Al-Bayan is issued four times a week by the Islamic Dawa Party.)

OPINION: FOREIGN COMPANIES SHOULD PAY TAXES

By Tarik al-Jobouri

(Al-Mada, 22 June 2005) - In most of the world, foreign companies work under the rules of the country they work in to guarantee the rights of the people of that country. In Iraq, we have many foreign companies working in transportation, communications, and oil fields under contracts with the coalition authorities that give the companies many incredible privileges at the expense of Iraq's financial rights. Deputy Prime Minister Ahmed Chalabi referred to this point, saying that those companies do not pay taxes for their work in Iraq and that the bodyguards cost the budget a lot. We have to revise the nature of our dealings with foreign companies to get them to pay taxes. But we have to give priorities to the local companies. We have to make use of the Gulf States' experiences where they oblige the foreign companies to pay taxes and where no one can work unless being sponsored by a local citizen. It is true that Iraq is in need for foreign investment, yet they must comply with their financial commitments to Iraq. (Al-Mada is issued daily by Al-Mada Institution for Media, Culture, and

Arts.)

Iraqi Press Monitor is published by the Institute for War & Peace Reporting, an independent non-profit organisation supporting regional media and democratic change.

IWPR cannot vouch for the accuracy of the reports. The views represented by the stories are not necessarily those of IWPR.