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PUK says Iraqi
government should have taken Hajj into consideration
when it set the election date.
Iraqi Kurds who travelled to Saudi Arabia to perform
the Hajj, one of Islam's key religious duties, won't
be able to vote in Iraq's historic elections.
Although the Hajj has ended and some Arab pilgrims
have already returned to Iraq, the Kurds will not
come home until the beginning of February, said
Anwar Tahir of the Religious Endowments Ministry in
Sulaimaniyah.
For many Muslims, the pilgrimage to Mecca is a once
in a lifetime opportunity. To get permission to go,
Muslims must apply for a limited number of places
assigned to their country by the Saudi government.
Many Kurds who went on the Hajj said that given the
choice, they would perform their religious duty
rather than their civic one.
For Kamal Fatah Mahmood, a Sulaimaniyah resident,
the choice was clear."A man's belief in God comes
before love of homeland, thus I deem going on
pilgrimage more important than the election," he
said before he left for the Hajj earlier this month.
Rookhosh Jamil, whose parents and husband went on
the Hajj, said they didn't want to miss the
opportunity of going to Mecca, but she added,"If
they'd been here, they would have gone to vote."
Election officials in Iraqi Kurdistan say they were
aware that the election date presented a problem for
Iraqis going on the Hajj.
"In the beginning of November we told the IECI
[Independent Electoral Commission of Iraq], but so
far we haven't got any answer," said Hama Salih Hama
Amin, head of the IECI's Sulaimaniyah office.
Sayyed Ahmed Barzinje, a senior Patriotic Union of
Kurdistan, PUK, official responsible for Islamic
affairs, said the Iraqi government should have taken
the Hajj into consideration when it set the election
date.
"If they hadn't thought of it, then the religious
parties and the Ministry of Awqaf [Religious
Endowments] should have notified them," Barzinje
said.
But the Awqaf minister in Sulaimaniyah, Muhammed
Ahmed Gaznayee, said notifying the government was
not his ministry's responsibility, but that of the
Election Commission and the Pilgrimage Committee.
Those pilgrims who have returned may still find it
difficult to vote.
Because of curfews and travel restrictions, many
"hajjis" who arrived back in the country on January
28 have been unable to get to their home towns where
they are registered to vote.
There are two organisations, however, which have
been charged with arranging transportation and
protection for pilgrims to return home in time for
the January 30 vote - the Common Coordination Centre
and the Institute for the Protection of
Establishments.
This story has not been bylined because of concerns
for the security of IWPR reporters.
www.iwpr.net
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