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Baghdad
- Iraqi leaders have begun debating a new
constitution that will determine the shape of the
government after elections in December. Strong
debate is expected on the issue of forming a federal
state that would shift power from the central
government in Baghdad to regional governments,
including Iraq's Kurdish region. VOA's Patricia
Nunan recently visited Kurdish regions of Iraq.
The market in the city of Suleimaniyah is adorned
with Kurdish flags. In one spot, a series of flags
is suspended from the ceiling of a passageway,
making the bold red, white and green stripes
emblazoned with a 21-point yellow star the most
striking feature around.
Elsewhere in the city, government buildings are
adorned by both the Kurdish flag and Iraq's
predominantly red, white and black national flag.
The flags demonstrate the mixed attitudes Kurds have
toward their relationship with the rest of Iraq and
the shape they hope the new government will take.
Rights groups say, during the Saddam Hussein regime,
about 200,000 Kurds were killed in chemical weapons
attacks and years of fighting intended to prevent
the Kurds from becoming too powerful.
But Kurds spent 12 years governing themselves after
the United States imposed a no-fly zone over the
region after the 1991 Gulf War. Since the fall of
the Hussein government in 2003, the region has been
spared much of the insurgent-related violence
plaguing other parts of Iraq.
One woman says, during the Saddam Hussein regime,
the Kurdish region never enjoyed peace, it just
received pain. She thinks, now is the perfect time
for the Kurdish region to become an independent
country.
An informal referendum held in tandem with the
January 30 elections throughout the Kurdish region
revealed that more than 98 percent of Kurds want
independence from Iraq. But many, including Kurdish
leaders, are resigned to the fact that may be too
much too soon, and international politics have
conspired to make independence not feasible.
Kurdish leaders are instead pushing for a federal
government, a reversal of the system that saw highly
centralized powers in Baghdad during the Saddam
Hussein regime. But that regional system has given
rise to fears of the so-called "Balkanization," or
fracturing, of Iraq.
Deputy Prime Minister Rowsch Shaways, a Kurd, argues
that sharing powers will be key to preserving Iraq's
unity, and it is a formula that has worked
elsewhere.
"There are examples which show that the federal
solution is a very successful one in countries,
which are similar to Iraq, which consist of
different ethnic and religious groups,” Mr. Shaways
noted. “Why not in Iraq? … And, we see that such
problems were solved very, very successfully in
countries like Belgium, like, say, Germany, like
Switzerland, like Canada and other countries of the
world. Like the [United] Arab Emirates, for example,
is also a kind of a federation."
An April survey by the U.S. organization, the
International Republican Institute, reveals that
more than 50 percent of Iraqis identify themselves
most closely with their country first. About 30
percent chose their ethnic group or tribe and 19
percent identify religion.
Those apparent faultlines are also partly why
federalism causes fears about the disintegration of
Iraq.
This man in the Suleimaniyah market says Kurds like
federalism because they do not have any other
choice. If Kurds had a chance to have their own
country, they would take it, because they have
already paid for it in blood.
But International Republican Institute Country
Director Patrick Egan says there is support in Iraq
for a decentralization of powers.
"When you talk to people about federalism generally,
what you will get is a reaction to the word, and the
connotations it has taken on in Iraq recently, that
its sort of a euphemism for separation,” said Mr.
Egan. “Well, then when you talk about more subtle
questions like, where would be the most appropriate
level of government to address issues like
electricity, or sewers, or water supplies, then
people identify that it should be a local or
regional level government, and not the central
government."
The parliamentary committee drafting the new
constitution is trying to include more Sunni
representatives in the debate.
Iraq's Sunni community, roughly 20 percent of the
population, was politically powerful in the Hussein
government. But because many Sunnis boycotted the
January 30 election, there are few in the National
Assembly.
Ammar Wajeeh, a spokesman for the Iraqi Islamic
Party, a Sunni party represented on the
constitutional committee, says a federal system may
work, but just for the time being.
"We are afraid that they [the Kurds] want to
separate from Iraq,” he said. “We shall, will do our
best to prevent this to happen [from happening].
But, for the time being, you know that the situation
is a bit complicated, and they had a bad experience
with the previous government. They tried to
marginalize [the Kurds] and to oppress them, yes.
For the time being, it may be a solution for them,
but should not be permanent."
In the Suleimaniyah market, while many Kurds still
speak of full independence, many also seem
cautiously ready to accept the compromise that
federalism represents to them.
This man says, if brotherhood develops between Arabs
and Kurds, then federalism will be a good idea. If
not, then it will not be.
Articles published here do not necessarily reflect
views of Kurdistan Regional Government.
www.krg.org
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