Interview with Fuad Masoum, pre-election conference head

Fuad Masoum, the man chosen to head preparations for a conference expected to elect a parliamentary body, is now meeting a working group once a week to decide details of the event, which is to be held in late July. Following the handover of sovereignty on 28 June, the Iraqi interim government is now in full swing in preparation for scheduled elections in January 2005 to elect a national assembly. The official helped establish the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) party and served as the first Kurdish prime minister in northern Iraq in 1992. In an interview with IRIN, he reaffirmed his commitment to ensuring that the conference reflects all aspects of Iraqi society. Some 1,000 people from all walks of life will participate in the conference which is aimed at leading to the establishment of an acceptable parliament. QUESTION: Why should this new interim government and parliamentary body be accepted by the people of Iraq if it is not elected by them? ANSWER: The parliament will represent the majority of people in Iraq. We're forming it to include all aspects of the population, the Sunni, the Shi'ite, the Kurds, all ethnicities. Geographically, we will make sure it represents every area of Iraq, the entire country. But in terms of political trends, we can't represent everyone, because some groups will boycott the conference, some will not get enough votes to get a seat on the parliamentary body. This is the way democracy works. Q: Will this conference be similar to Afghanistan's "loya jirga" held a couple of years ago? A: Actually there are a many differences. With our conference, we will have about 5 percent representation for tribal groups. In Afghanistan, they had 95 percent representation from tribes, because that is more the way their society works. In terms of skills, qualifications and intellectuals, our levels are much higher. There, the "loya jirga" approved a constitution. Here, the interim national assembly [due to be elected in January 2005] will put together a constitution, but it will be approved in a general election at the end of 2005. Q: How will that election work? A: The interim government will end in January 2005. This is called the transition period for the government. The newly elected parliament will form a new government, which is expected to appoint a new president. But it might be the same president and the same prime minister. This is the transition we are thinking of right now. It could be that the president gets elected after that, but that will be decided by the constitution. We have not decided yet if parliament or the people will elect the president. Q: How will the national conference work? A: This national conference will take place over three days. The security situation will affect everything, but we have to challenge the situation. Wherever the location is for the conference, the 1,000 participants will have to be there. It's not necessarily going to be in Baghdad, but that hasn't been decided yet. Q: Foreign ambassadors have told IRIN they're worried that the interim government may not be able to make permanent decisions. How do you feel about that? A: The government is in charge of all decisions, so the interim government can make these type of decisions. Relations between countries are between governments unless the ministers get involved. The government's task is to protect its authority. Q: How will you choose the 1,000 people who attend the conference? A: The majority will come from [Iraq's 18] governorates, so for each 50,000 people there will be one representative. We expect 500 people to come from the governorates. Another 100 of them are members of the preparatory committee. As for other nominees, the mechanism for deciding who they will be was finalised on 7 July and will be approved by a full preparatory committee meeting. We have been meeting, about 20 of us, because it's easy to get a smaller group of people every day to work. That's why we decided to have the working group. But the 20, just because they are working doesn't mean they are leading the committee. Always when you have a preparation committee, you have to have a small group. But I want everyone to know that the process is open. There is nothing happening behind the scenes. Q: How do you ensure that the process is open? A: For those that are in charge of preparing everything for the national conference, we realised that, because of security, it's difficult to have our meetings in the convention centre [a meeting area protected by US troops]. So instead, on a daily basis, we are collecting information and take it to the preparatory committee at our weekly meeting. Iraqi people suffered for the last 35 years, so they have doubts about everything. That's why we have to show them in these meetings that we are working. Everyone wants to be a member of this group of 1,000. People are sending me letters, calling me and proposing names. There are 27 million people in Iraq, however, so there are some people and groups that won't be represented. They are making representations that we need to include them. Q: What do you envision the new parliamentary body will be? A: It's a "half" parliament that looks like a parliament. It's an authority that right now is with the council of the government. It will have the right to reject or refuse decisions made by the government. It will have the right to observe the ministers and it can question ministers. If the ministers make a decision, the body will be able to ask for a change in that decision. Q: Has Moqtada Sadr [a radical Shi'ite cleric whose troops have fought US forces in Najaf] been invited to be a representative in the national conference. We also heard that Harith Audari, the head of the Muslim Association of Scholars had been invited. Can you confirm this? A: I didn't send a letter to anyone, so we didn't send an invitation to Moqtada Sadr. He hasn't sent anything to me. At the same time, we're not against him being a representative. About Mr Audari, he was asked to come to the preparatory committee, but he did not show up.