Political pressures surround interrogating Iraqi CMC Head

Shafaq News / Member of the Parliamentary Legal Committee, Raed Al-Maliki, emphasized today, Tuesday, the existence of political pressures to interfere with the work of parliament and postpone the interrogation session of the head of the Iraqi Commission of Media and Communications (CMC), Nabil Jasim. He hinted at publicly disclosing the names of these entities in the media, expressing surprise at the "concealment" of the interrogation news from the network's news and websites.

During a press conference held at the Parliament building, MP Al-Maliki stated, "The interrogation of the CMC head was previously announced officially, and the interrogation was submitted more than 100 days ago, based on the constitutional powers and the internal regulations of the Council of Representatives, and it was supported by legal documents."

He added, "The delay in the interrogation during this period was due to political interventions and pressures during the tenure of the former Speaker of the Council of Representatives, who directly spoke with me and I understood some matters at that time," noting his "insistence and continuity in interrogating the head of CMC."

Al-Maliki continued, "At the beginning of the legislative term, I worked to include the interrogation request on the agenda, and the date of the interrogation, which was previously notified to the CMC head, was determined," affirming, "We are proceeding with the interrogation whether it happens today or is postponed."

He clarified, "CMC’s head has been present in the Parliament building since nine-thirty in the morning, and he requested a three-week postponement of the interrogation request, which was considered by the legal department," explaining that "the department expressed its opinion that it had notified the head of CMC of the interrogation on 19/10/2023, and the excuse given by the head of the network in the submitted request was that he had not completed answering the interrogation."

Al-Maliki pointed out that "the legal department considers the legal period given to the head of the Iraqi Media Network sufficient, and the required excuse is not specific but general, and the decision to postpone the interrogation to another date is a decision of the Council of Representatives."

He affirmed his "commitment to the constitution and the preparation of all documents and questions," noting that "if the interrogation is postponed with the approval of the Council of Representatives, the postponement will be for a limited number of days, such as a week, and not as requested by the head of the network. In case of postponement, additional questions will be added to the interrogation."

He clarified that "during the previous period and for more than three months, the date of the interrogation was mentioned, and the media department of the Council of Representatives did not report any news about the interrogation in the news and websites affiliated with the CMC, and its head does not have the right to withhold news from millions of Iraqis."

Al-Maliki warned the entities he described as "attempting to obstruct the work of the Council of Representatives by not intervening," stating that "if these entities continue their intervention, I will mention them through the media, because they are trying to obstruct the parliamentary oversight role, and there are political pressures facing the presidency of the parliament regarding the interrogation issue."