|
ARBIL, Northern Iraq, Jan 29 (IPS) - Many
Kurds in Northern Iraq are facing new threats - and
they do not come from masked Arab terrorists. They
come from the two main Kurdish parties doing all
they can to gain strength in the election Sunday,
independent local journalists and opposition
politicians say.
Kurds are voting for the National Assembly in
Baghdad where the two parties have come together in
a united front, and also for the local government
where the two parties are contesting against one
another.
Local control is at present split between the
Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) of Masoud Barzani
and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) led by
Jalal Talabani.
"This talk of democracy is just paint," says Zirak
Abdullah, managing editor at the Arbil office of the
independent Kurdish weekly Hawlati. "The talk of
democracy is just on the surface.. The real action
is under the table."
That is where some muscle is evident. Sporadic
incidents of voter intimidation have been reported
over the past few days. On Thursday evening Kurds
carrying Kalashnikovs blindfolded and beat up three
campaign workers of the opposition Kurdistan Islamic
Union.
"Their faces were smashed in," says Asou Hamid,
leading journalist at the Islamic Union's TV
station. "They were left on the ground with their
blindfolds on. They never got a good look at their
attackers.."
Hamid says he cannot be sure who was behind the
attack, but he believes it was instigated by members
of the party in power -- even if it was not
specifically ordered by party leaders.
The same night Hamid says a half dozen Kurdish men
armed with automatic rifles tore down every poster
of his group on the main street opposite their party
office.
Night guards at Islamic Union TV told IPS they saw
the vandalism, but refused to give any details other
than the fact that the vandals were armed, and
wearing civilian clothes.
"We are just at the beginning of the democratic
process here," Hamid says. "Sometimes the mentality
of the people doesn't allow them to accept that some
people have other ideas."
The ruling Kurdish parties deny any role in the
oppression. "This election is about freedom and
democracy for the Kurdish people," says Ziraj Ali,
chief of the PUK in Arbil. "Whatever the will of the
people is, it will prevail."
Ziraj Ali maintains this election is a big step
towards democracy in Iraqi Kurdistan because there
will be competition in local elections in Northern
Iraq's three governorates -- Dohuk, Arbil, and
Suleymania. Dohuk and Arbil are at present
controlled by the KDP and Suleymania by the PUK. Few
expect that to change after the election.
"If you go to one of these main parties and sit in
front of them as a foreign journalist, of course he
will talk about democracy," says Hawlati's Abdullah.
"But that same man who talked to you, if he's
talking to someone else will concede that there will
be no change of power in Arbil."
These will be the second local elections in Iraqi
Kurdistan. In 2000 the KDP won every seat in Dohuk
and Arbil, and the PUK won every seat in Suleymania..
The election is complicated by the lack of any
independent election monitors, not only in Kurdistan
but in the whole of Iraq. Due to the difficult
security situation all international election
monitors will be based in Amman, Jordan, a day's
drive away.
The International Mission for Iraqi Elections led by
Canada's chief electoral officer Jean-Pierre
Kingsley is incredibly understaffed. It comprises
only about 20 election experts from Australia,
Bangladesh, Britain, Canada, Ghana, Hungary,
Indonesia, Mexico, Panama and Yemen. That is a lot
less than the 2,400 observers who watched the recent
run-off election in Ukraine.
Still, elections in Northern Iraq are likely to see
a higher turnout than in the centre and south.
Unlike the rest of Iraq, Kurdistan is a relatively
safe place and Kurds are excited they can vote for a
united Kurdish slate. That slate stands for Kurdish
autonomy in the North and Kurdish domination of the
oil-rich city Kirkuk, which currently lies outside
of the domain of the Kurdistan regional government.
http://www.ipsnews.net
Top |
® 