Monday, July 09, 2007
Oil law to plunge country into more chaos
(Azzaman) - Disappointment will be the only fruit that we are going to reap from the new oil law as we did from all other U.S.-sponsored ‘milestones’. Instead of “a gift to all the Iraqi people” as Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki described the draft oil law his government approved a few days ago, there are clear signals that the bill will turn into ‘poison’ for Iraq as a nation.
It is an oppressive bill that Maliki and his ministers signed and passed to parliament for approval. Many believed the government’s assertions that it would substantially review the bill originally drafted almost a year ago and rejected outright by almost all of the country’s political hues. Iraqi oil experts, national figures, Iraqis of note, politicians and numerous factions in the government had warned that unless redrafted, the bill will definitely become a cause for infighting and eventual division of the country.
But the government paid no heed to the warnings and, according to a senior official who took part in the recent deliberations hardly any changes or revisions were made. The official, who did not wish his name be revealed, accused Maliki’s government of undermining the very national reconciliation it says it is pursuing.
“The target behind the idea of the oil law was to cement national unity and reconciliation and not undermine them. We wanted this law to bring Iraqis together and not drive them apart,” the official was quoted as saying.
We cannot tell the identity of the official but the fact that the government has not denied the statement and that the experts still see the draft as a potential danger against what has become Iraqis’ only source of livelihood, there is good reason to believe this official’s warnings.
Since the bill has not been revised to respond to strong criticism and opposition it initially generated, Maliki’s credibility and that of his government comes into question. The whole country was pleased to hear the law would be revised in a manner that will bring the disparate Iraqi groups together and send a strong signal of national reconciliation.
But apparently the government exerted no effort to rectify the imbalances in the draft law and as a result we find ourselves once again in the square of disappointment, complaining to the Almighty against those determined to steal our happiness and sell us their lies and fabrications.
There is no need to remind the government and the nation that the draft law put before the parliament is a time bomb, threatening what remains of the country’s unity as well as the rights of current and future generations.
It is an oppressive bill that Maliki and his ministers signed and passed to parliament for approval. Many believed the government’s assertions that it would substantially review the bill originally drafted almost a year ago and rejected outright by almost all of the country’s political hues. Iraqi oil experts, national figures, Iraqis of note, politicians and numerous factions in the government had warned that unless redrafted, the bill will definitely become a cause for infighting and eventual division of the country.
But the government paid no heed to the warnings and, according to a senior official who took part in the recent deliberations hardly any changes or revisions were made. The official, who did not wish his name be revealed, accused Maliki’s government of undermining the very national reconciliation it says it is pursuing.
“The target behind the idea of the oil law was to cement national unity and reconciliation and not undermine them. We wanted this law to bring Iraqis together and not drive them apart,” the official was quoted as saying.
We cannot tell the identity of the official but the fact that the government has not denied the statement and that the experts still see the draft as a potential danger against what has become Iraqis’ only source of livelihood, there is good reason to believe this official’s warnings.
Since the bill has not been revised to respond to strong criticism and opposition it initially generated, Maliki’s credibility and that of his government comes into question. The whole country was pleased to hear the law would be revised in a manner that will bring the disparate Iraqi groups together and send a strong signal of national reconciliation.
But apparently the government exerted no effort to rectify the imbalances in the draft law and as a result we find ourselves once again in the square of disappointment, complaining to the Almighty against those determined to steal our happiness and sell us their lies and fabrications.
There is no need to remind the government and the nation that the draft law put before the parliament is a time bomb, threatening what remains of the country’s unity as well as the rights of current and future generations.
Labels: draft oil law
