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Politicians in Kurdistan say there are certain
issues they won’t compromise on as the deadline fast
approaches.
Less than a week before Iraq’s constitutional
deadline, Kurdish leaders are warning that a string
of unresolved issues threaten the process.
The Iraqi Kurdistan regional parliament held an
emergency session on August
6 to discuss the new constitution – in particular,
the list of specific Kurdish concerns including the
status of the Kurdish peshmerga or militia, the
future status of the city of Kirkuk, and the
distribution of natural resources.
In Baghdad, representatives of various political
blocs from around Iraq are now locked in non-stop
talks as they attempt to reach an agreement before
the August 15 deadline for finishing work on the
constitution.
Kurdish regional president Massoud Barzani was due
to travel from Erbil to attend the talks, which
began on August 8 and are expected to conclude on
August 12, but sandstorms in the capital prevented
him from making the journey.
The Kurds want to keep their peshmerga, while other
Iraqi groups have called for the disbanding of all
militias.
They also want provisions of the Transitional
Administrative Law – the current interim
constitution – to be fully implemented so that
people are able to resettle in Kirkuk and other
towns from which Kurds were ousted by Saddam
Hussein. Some ultimately want to see borders redrawn
so that oil-rich Kirkuk is incorporated into an
autonomous Kurdish entity, and they would like to
see the constitution contain some wording on the
city’s future status.
“There are other unresolved issues to do with human
rights and women’s rights, and all these issues
impinge on the Iraqi people,” Barzani told assembly
members.
One of the biggest obstacles to agreement is the
issue of federalism, which the Kurds and some Shia
politicians want.
Sunnis strongly oppose the idea, saying it will
divide Iraq.
“We should block the federalist system for another
four or five years, or else until it can be dealt
with by a new National Assembly elected at the end
of 2005,” said Ayad al-Samarai, who is a member of
the Iraqi Islamic Party, one of the main Sunni
political groups, and sits on the parliamentary
committee charged with drafting the constitution.
Adnan al-Janabi, a constitution committee member
representing the Iraqi List, said federalism could
cause more problems for the country.
“If we are going to establish federal regions, then
it will be on an ethnic and sectarian basis, which
we fear will cause divisions in Iraq,” he said.
But a federal arrangement is central to the demands
made by Kurds, who say it must be included in the
constitution.
“The Kurdish leadership demands a democratic and
federal Iraq where citizens have social, political
and economic freedom,” said Mahmood Osman, a senior
Kurdish Alliance representative in the Iraqi
National Assembly.
Some Shia are also pushing for a federal set-up in
hope that it would create more autonomous governance
for southern parts of Iraq, where they form the
majority.
“Federalism is a right that the Iraqi people
support,” said Saad Jawad Qandil, a member of the
political bureau of the Supreme Council for Islamic
Revolution in Iraq, one of the main Shia parties.
The Kurds have accused the United Iraqi Alliance,
UIA, the mainly Shia bloc that won the January
parliamentary election, of retreating from promises
they made when they forged a coalition with the
second-placed Kurdish Alliance. They say they
secured UIA support on issues such as Kirkuk,
federalism and the role that Islam should play in
the state, but this is no longer forthcoming.
“The Kurdish people have lost hope in the central
government,” said Nuri Talabani, a member of the
Kurdistan assembly. “Progress in this situation will
be up to them, as the Kurdish demands are clear.”
Kurds want the constitution to say that Islam is one
of the sources of legislation, whereas some
religious Shia are pushing for stronger wording to
the effect that the faith is the “main source” of
laws.
“We respect all religions, especially Islam given
that it is the religion of the majority,” said
President Barzani. “But we won’t accept an Islamic
identity being imposed on Iraqi identity.”
Many Kurds say that when it comes to the national
referendum to approve the constitution in October,
they will not vote for it if it does not meet their
demands.
For the constitution to be rejected, the majority in
three out of Iraq’s 18 provinces have to vote
against it – and Kurdistan comprises three
provinces.
“If the constitution goes against the interest of
the Kurds, I won’t vote for it,” said Herem Yassin
Rashid, a policeman.
Mariwan Hamarashid and Dhiya Risan are IWPR trainees
in Iraq.
www.iwpr.net
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