|
Islamic group criticised
for decision to leave the main Kurdish electoral
bloc at a time when competition for votes is getting
tougher.
The decision of the Islamic Union of Kurdistan to
run independently in the upcoming parliamentary
election reflects rumblings of discontent with the
two main Kurdish parties, which are already
predicted to lose some seats as more Sunni Arabs
seek representation.
The Islamic Union of Kurdistan, IUK, established
during the civil conflict in Kurdistan in 1994, is a
moderate Islamic party that joined the strategic
alliance between the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan,
PUK, and the Kurdistan Democratic Party, KDP, in the
January 2005 election to an interim parliament. The
IUK is considered the third most powerful Kurdish
party.
The party announced in late October that it would
run separately from the Kurdish Alliance in order to
"shake up political stagnation" in Iraqi Kurdistan.
It said that having one alliance dominated by the
two big parties reflected a "chill in the political
life" of Kurdish politics.
Iraq’s national assembly election is due on December
15. While there are 19 political alliances on offer,
many Kurds are expected to vote for a specifically
Kurdish slate when they go to the polls.
But aside from the withdrawal of the IUK, the
Kurdish Alliance is expected to lose some of its 77
parliamentary seats because key Sunni Arab parties
which boycotted the January 2005 polls will be
running in next month's election, so Sunnis are
likely to claim more seats in parliament, which are
awarded according to the percentage of votes won. In
the January election, the Kurdish Alliance came
second after the Shia-led United Iraqi Alliance.
Some Kurds are concerned that a larger Sunni
presence in parliament will hurt Kurdish efforts to
create a federal state, and to incorporate into
Kurdistan areas such as Kirkuk which they believe
are rightfully theirs.
Alliance leaders are naturally not best pleased with
the IUK’s decision to break with the coalition at
such a critical point. KDP politburo member Ezadeen
Barwary called the IUK's “a threat to the Kurdish
Alliance's goals.”
“If we are weak when we go into the election, we
will not be able to defend Kurdish rights, and we
know that there are certain parties that are hostile
to Kurds,” he said.
In Kurdish areas, the IUK is largely catering to
voters frustrated with the PUK and KDP. Many
residents of Kurdistan are increasingly disenchanted
with the way their region is governed as they
struggle with poor public services, rising housing
costs and corruption.
The parties may also have lost some favour by
helping draft a constitution that does not support
Kurdish autonomy to the level that many Kurds
wanted. In the end, however, vast majority of
Kurdish voters approved the constitution in the
October 15 referendum.
The IUK estimates that it has the support of 15 to
20 per cent of Kurdistan residents. It has promised
to fight corruption both in the Kurdish region and
in Iraq as a whole, and to provide better public
services. The Kurdish Alliance is campaigning on the
same two issues, as well as pushing other policies
such as redrawing borders to bring areas like Kirkuk
into Kurdistan.
Aso Ali, a senior member of the PUK, said he was
disappointed with the IUK’s decision. Although he
did not think it would significantly hurt the
alliance, he still felt that “it would have
benefited the Kurds to stick together.”
The alliance also includes the Islamic League of
Kurdistan, the Toilers’ Party of Kurdistan, the
Communist Party of Kurdistan, the Socialist Party of
Kurdistan and two Turkoman parties.
Ali said the IUK had felt frustrated because it was
not given any high-level posts in the government,
and had been promised only three seats in parliament
after the forthcoming election. The IUK currently
has six of the Kurdish Alliance's 77 seats in the
Iraqi National Assembly, and holds nine of the 111
seats in the Kurdistan regional assembly, also
elected last January.
Omar Abdul-Azeez, a senior IUK member, said his
party broke with the alliance not over the issue of
seats, but rather because it feels Kurdistan needs
fresh political voices and better representation.
Abdul-Azeez said the party would not join an Islamic
alliance or any other party list, because it wanted
Kurdish issues to remain its primary focus.
But some leaders are still concerned that the
Kurdish Alliance will be weaker as a result.
Shwan Ahmed, an expert on political Islam, said the
withdrawal of the IUK might ultimately hurt Kurdish
interests because it could split the vote, even if
only to a marginal extent.
Ahmed noted that the IUK appealed to a somewhat
different electorate from its ertswhile partners.
The former, he said, were interested in Islamic
issues and "would never vote for a list that
includes the PUK, KDP and the secular parties".
On the other hand, he said that liberal secular
voters "who are angry with the platform and policies
of the PUK and KDP are also well aware that the IUK
is not more liberal than they are.”
Talar Nadir is an IWPR trainee in Sulaimaniyah.
www.iwpr.net
Top |
® 