The management of the CMC, which represented by Dr. Burhan Shawi the CEO of the commission and Dr. Safa'a Al-Din Rabie'e the chief of the Trustees Council and Dr. Ali Nasir the vise-chairman of the Trustees Council, met with the delegation of the European Union for monitoring the next Iraqi parliamentary elections which includes the media expert Klodea Aranda and the legal expert Suzan at the commission's headquarter, on the afternoon of Sunday 14.2.2010.
At the beginning of the meeting Dr. Burhan Shawi produced a detail show about the Commission since its establishment in 2004 and until now, and its work's nature and the problems which it faced. And Dr. Burhan declared that the Commission is the only entity which authorized under the effective article (65), to regulate the work of the media and communications sectors in Iraq, and it's an independent financially and managerially under the article (103) from the Iraqi's constitution.
And Dr. Burhan talked about the problems which faced the commission, As he pointed out that the commission is one of the institutions which based in Iraq, accordingly it was effected a large effect in the political events which the Iraqi courtyard witnessed it in the previous period, which lead to obstructed its work in many times.
However about the communications' field, the CEO of the commission talked a bout the licenses' auction which happened on its foundation giving three licenses for three mobile phone companies, and it's Zain Al-iraq , Asia cell and Korek. And Dr. Burhan mentioned that the Commission passed through emptiness after the finishing of the period of rule of its previous CEO, which continued almost year and a half. After appointing the new management. We faced a lot of problems, such as the disorder which exist in the Iraqi space, as there's a great number of satellite and terrestrial and radio channels and unlicensed foreign agencies, besides observing the articles of the signed licenses with the mobile phone companies which work in Iraq. And obtaining the debts which resulting on these companies and other many problems. And the new administration solved most of these problems, as a regulation happened at the Iraqi surroundings by giving the licenses to the unlicensed entities.
And the delegation of the European Union produced a set of questions and inquiries about the rules of the commission which characterize in the media side, the most distinct of these questions is about knowing whether these rules are applied on the printed media? And is the commission the only entity which authorized to lockup any mass media, or the government has the right to do this?
And a bout all these questions Dr. Burhan Shawi answered: "that these rules still valid and applied on all the mass media, except the printed media, as the reading press doesn't need to any kind of licenses. But it must observed with the profession's ethics and standards" and added: "any entity even the government doesn't have the right to lockup any mass media, and that procedure is from the commission's competence only.
And about the question of the delegation about the commission's role in the elections' period, and Dr. Shawi explained that the commission is performing the media monitoring to all the newest in the elections, and seeking to cooperate with the independent high legation of elections and international entities, to reach to health electoral media environment, which participating in succeeding the democracy process in Iraq.
