kurds seek unity in struggle with baghdad
November 1st, 2009Kurdish political forces are looking to establish greater unity as Iraq’s northern region continues its struggle with Baghdad over the status of Kirkuk and prepares for January’s national elections.
While Arab parties have already formed a number of alliances to participate in the upcoming elections, no Kurdish alliances have yet been formed.
Following the Iraqi parliament’s failure to ratify an election law for the third time – largely because of differences over the fate of Kirkuk – the Kurdistan Regional President Massoud Barzani convened an urgent meeting of Kurdish political parties to stress the importance of a united position on Kirkuk.
After the meeting, which included Kurdish opposition forces, a joint statement was issued stating that elections must be held in Kirkuk on the same day as the rest of the country. They rejected the division of Kirkuk into different electoral zones based on ethnicity and insisted that Article 140 of the Iraqi Constitution be implemented.
All the Kurdish parties have now agreed that Kirkuk represents a “red line” which they stand united on and over which they will not compromise.
“We all agreed to have one position regarding the Kirkuk issue,” said Barzani following the meeting.
Alla Talabani, a Kurdish MP in the national parliament, says that Kurds have no friends on the Kirkuk issue and that it is only through a united stand that they will be able to secure their interests.
“Although we have no friends regarding the Kirkuk issue, we are confident that we alone can defend the rights of Kirkuk,” she told Niqash.
During the swearing in of the new government in the Kurdistan Region this week, Barzani warned that “everybody should know that we reject a special case for Kirkuk.” Moreover, he added that “some political parties want to use Kirkuk as an excuse to delay the Iraqi national elections,” an outcome Kurdish parties oppose strongly.
Today as the failure to pass an election law reverberates across the country, the status of Kirkuk has become the dominant theme of the region’s media outlets. All the Kurdish television channels have held special programs on the issue and newspapers editorial repeatedly stress the importance of Kurdish unity on the issue.
A number of popular Kurdish organizations have threatened mass demonstrations if the political parties do not remain united over the fate of Kirkuk.
According to Dr. Sirwan Ahmed, a well-known Kurdish political analyst, the outcome of the Kirkuk question could well determine the fate of the region within a federal Iraq.
“If Kurdish parties lose Kirkuk, it means they have lost the Kurdistan Region,” he said, warning that it would represent the first encroachment of many by Baghdad on Kurdish rights.
Yet, even as people in Kurdistan have been happy to see the Kurdish parties coming together over the Kirkuk issue, there are increasing concerns that Kurdish parties will not form an alliance for January’s national elections, potentially weakening their position in Baghdad. For the moment it appears that Kurdish parties will participate on separate lists.
The Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) headed by Barzani and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) headed by Iraqi President, Jalal Talabani, are now calling for one joint list to run in the elections. The two parties have called for political forces to join their Kurdistan List, saying that if Kurdish parties do not form one coalition force, the Kurdish position will be weakened in Baghdad.
“Kurdish unity now is more necessary than ever because in the four coming years Iraq will face a political crisis,” said Dr. Barham Saleh of the PUK as he was sworn in as the region’s new Prime Minister.
The Kurdistan coalition’s spokesperson in parliament, Fryad Rwandzi, explained that participating in the elections on different lists will be negative for Kurds by diluting their ability to secure important posts in the next government and their role in political decision-making.
Recently the Islamic Movement of Kurdistan and the Kurdistan Islamic Group did propose an Islamic alliance with the Kurdistan Islamic Union (KIU) but the KIU rejected the idea, saying “our party’s members prefer to run for the election separately without forming an alliance with any party.”
The KIU and the Change list, the region’s two main opposition forces, both believe they have sufficient strength to compete independently and so have decided not to enter into any alliance.
Additionally they say they cannot enter into a coalition with the Kurdistan List as the KDP and PUK monopolize Kurdish powers in Baghdad. They complain that all posts given to Kurds in Baghdad go to PUK and KDP members and that only by competing independently will they be able to secure their own powers.
niqash | Qassim Khidhir Hamad | thu 29 oct 09
http://www.niqash.org/content.php?contentTypeID=75&id=2559&lang=0
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