its just not for party leaders it is so if your on a large raid you can see the leaders comments without having to use shouts. Been very handy in some larger raids and in seiges so far.
You can't. I think the idea behind is that every raid/siege participant HAS to see that window, because it is where the overall leader writes his commands. If you really do not want to see it (why wouldn't you want to see it if you participate in a siege/raid?), you have to move it to the edge of the screen, as mentioned above.