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Kurdish
parties' controversial claim on Kirkuk likely to be
source of tension in post-election coalition
building.
Kurdish politicians, keen to capitalise on their
newly acquired political power, are outlining their
demands in negotiations to establish a new
government.
The Kurdish Alliance List, made up of the two main
Kurdish parties, came second in the January 30
elections with almost 2.2 million votes, giving it
75 seats in the National Assembly.
Because a two-thirds majority is required to take
key decisions in 275-member parliament - including
forming a cabinet - the Kurdish coalition has been
courted in recent days by the Shia-dominated United
Iraqi Alliance and by the Iraqi List led by interim
prime minister Ayad Allawi, a secular Shia.
The United Iraqi Alliance, which is supported by
Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, will have 140 seats
in the assembly, with 183 needed for a two-thirds
majority, and the third-placed Iraqi List will get
40.
In meetings with various parties to hammer out who
will hold various government posts and other issues,
Kurdish politicians are making their demands known.
It seems likely that the Kurds will get their wish
of holding the presidency and they have put forward
Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, PUK, leader Jalal
Talabani for the post.
But other Kurdish demands, such as moving the border
of Iraqi Kurdistan further south to include the
oil-rich city of Kirkuk and maintaining their
militia, the peshmerga, are more contentious. The
Kurds also want to increase their share of national
budget expenditure, which currently stands at 17 per
cent.
"We will be receptive to the faction which is more
responsive to our demands, and those demands should
be included in the constitution," said Mullah
Bakhtiar, a member of the PUK political bureau.
The status of Kirkuk, which is also claimed by Arabs
and Turkomans, is an extremely sensitive issue,
largely because it is the home of Iraq's northern
oil fields. But the Kurds are unlikely to budge on
their claim to the city.
Adnan Mufti, a member of the PUK political bureau,
said, " The issue of Kirkuk had been a main issue in
the negotiations with the Baath regime," he said.
"So now, in a democratic, federal country, how can
we [drop] the issue of Kirkuk?"
Arabs and Turkomans are worried because the Kirkuk
Brotherhood List, made up of the two main Kurdish
parties, received 59.2 per cent of the vote for the
local governorate elections, the top spot in the
race. That means the Kurdish parties would get at
least 24 of 41 seats on the governorate council of
Taamim province, which includes Kirkuk.
"Kirkuk originally is not a Kurdish city," said
Mueen Ahmed Ali, a professor at the University of
Baghdad's College of Law. "If we give up Kirkuk,
then the Kurds will be independent and have this oil
wealth for themselves and deprive Iraq of it."
It seems Kurdish desires for a federalist state may
be shared by the United Iraqi Alliance, which would
have more control over the oil fields in the Shia-dominated
south under such a system.
Iraqi Kurdistan, which includes the provinces of
Dahuk, Arbil and Sulimaniyah, has been a
semi-autonomous region since the 1991 Kurdish
uprising.
"Federalism should be prevalent in all the corners
of Iraq," said Mofaq Rubai, a candidate of the
United Iraqi Alliance. "Look at the experience of
Kurdistan, which is enjoying the benefits of
federalism."
But Kurdish wishes to maintain their autonomy is not
agreeable to other Arabs, who fear that a federalist
state would be a precursor to complete independence
for Iraqi Kurdistan.
Sheikha Lamia Abdulsakr, a candidate on the Iraqi
List, said her personal opinion was that it was too
early to decentralise Iraq.
"I don't encourage federalism in Iraq because we
want a united Iraq from north to south, with one
heart, one hand and one flag," she said.
As for maintaining the Kuridish militia, Bakhtiar
said the national government should be grateful
because having the peshmerga maintain security in
Kurdistan would free up Iraq's national security
forces to deal with other areas.
"We can defend our own area with our own forces so
we lessen that burden on their shoulders," he said.
Although Kurdish politicians will face pressure from
other political groups to make concessions during
negotiations, their supporters will urge them not to
give way, as they see the elections as an historic
opportunity to finally make their voices heard.
"This time the Kurds will go to Baghdad with great
power and they will get most of their demands," said
Fareed Asasard, head of the Kurdistan Journalists'
Union. "Iraq can't be run without the Kurds, so
making a coalition with any faction should be on the
basis of agreement, not concession."
Talar Nadir and Zaineb Naji are IWPR trainee
journalists in Sulaimaniyah.
www.iwpr.net
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