|
Northern
Iraq prepared for Sunday’s elections with a mixture
of hope and scepticism, as Kurdish politicians
promoted a unified list of candidates designed to
maximise their voice in Iraq's new parliament.
In a low-key campaign, the Kurds' leaders have urged
support for a slate agreed by the main Kurdish
parties and committed to securing an autonomous
region within a federal Iraq.
If Kurds vote in proportion to their numbers, the
list should win 75-85 of the 275 seats in the
assembly and could play a crucial role in shaping
the new government.
But many Kurds say they are disillusioned with the
two main parties, the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP)
and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), which
have run separate administrations, based in Arbil
and Suleimania, since their civil war of the mid-
1990s.
"It's hard to judge how many people will go and
vote," said Zirak Abdullah, Arbil chief of Hawlati,
the independent newspaper, which has carried out
informal polling. "Probably most will, albeit
without enthusiasm, because they feel voting for the
new Iraqi assembly is a national [Kurdish] duty."
One of the liveliest campaigns has been in the city
of Kirkuk, which lies outside the formal boundaries
of Iraq's 3 Kurdish provinces, but is claimed by the
Kurds as a home city. Thousands of Kurds have
returned in recent months after being expelled by
the "Arabisation" programme begun by Saddam
Hussein's regime in the 1970s and ending only with
his overthrow.
"We will vote for a Kurdish region and for Kirkuk to
be part of it," said Nahla Qadr, a young woman who
lives with four sisters and her widowed mother in a
mud and breezeblock hut they bought for $130 in a
shantytown.
Kurdish officials express confidence about voters'
security in Kurdish-run districts but worry about
Kurds living elsewhere.
Sadi Ahmed Pire, the PUK chief for Mosul, said
Kurdish troops and security officers had taken on an
enhanced role in the city alongside US troops and
the Iraqi National Guard.
"The areas [in northern Iraq] where there is
security and stability are where we have a presence
like the road from Mosul to Dohuk," said Nichervan
Barzani, prime minister in the KDP-run administra-
tion.
http://www.ft.com
Top |
® 