|
Elections in Kurdistan: To have or not to
have the right to vote
2.5.2009
By Dr. Rashid Karadaghi
|
|
|
May 2, 2009
According to news reports, the Kurds living outside
Kurdistan will not be allowed to vote in the
upcoming parliamentary elections in Kurdistan
scheduled for a couple of months from now.
To put it mildly, this is a very undemocratic and
unfair decision, uncharacteristic of any system that
is worthy of being called a democracy. The Kurdish
people didn’t fight Arab Iraqi dictatorial regimes
for almost a century, with the untold sacrifices
they made and the pain and suffering they endured,
only to be denied their most basic right by their
very own government. The Kurdish people have the
right to expect more of their government. |
Dr. Rashid Karadaghi |
Taking such a decision,
which runs contrary to every democratic principle,
shows just how far the arrogance of power can reach.
When a government takes such a decision and assumes
that it can escape the wrath of the people it
governs, one can only conclude that it is taking the
people it governs for granted. But history has shown
that taking the governed for granted is a dangerous
path to follow, for there comes a time when their
patience runs out and no one can predict what will
happen then.
Voting in an election is the most basic and
important right of a citizen in a democracy. It is
not a favor granted or taken away by the rulers
according to their whims. When a government takes
away this fundamental right from any segment of the
electorate, let alone an important one, as it is
happening in this case, it automatically forfeits
the right to be called a democracy.
There is no justification for this arbitrary
decision by the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG),
logistical or monetary, for Iraqis abroad voted in
the Iraqi parliamentary elections in 2005 and on the
constitution in the same year. If the Iraqis abroad
can vote in two elections in one year, why can’t the
Kurds abroad vote in one election?
By all accounts, the Kurds in the Diaspora have
played a significant role in the Kurdish national
liberation movement and increasingly so in the last
two decades. For instance, the Kurds abroad played a
pivotal role during and after the Kurdish mass
exodus in the spring of 1991, following the Gulf
War, in convincing the Western powers, specifically
the US, France, and Britain, to establish the “safe
heaven,” which became the incubator for most of what
has been achieved in Kurdistan so far. In fact, it
wasn’t too long ago when a perceptive observer of
Kurdish affairs commented that the Kurdish movement
rests on three legs, two of them are in Kurdistan
and the third is the Kurds abroad.
To deny this important constituency the right to
vote in the upcoming parliamentary elections in
Kurdistan is a slap in the face of those who love
their people and their country and have proven so.
The Kurds abroad are not any less patriotic than the
Kurds at home. They are not any less concerned about
what happens in their homeland than the people
living in Kurdistan. They love Kurdistan and feel as
much a part of their people as the people living in
Kurdistan, if not more. Moreover, some of them are
more involved in their people’s struggle for freedom
and independence than many who live in Kurdistan.
So, on what basis are they being denied the right to
vote in this important election?
How can we criticize the occupying governments of
Turkey, Iran, Syria, and Iraq for taking our
people’s rights away if our own Kurdish government
takes away our right to vote? If our government can
take this important right away today, under any
pretext whatsoever, what other rights will it take
away tomorrow?
If the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) wants to
keep faith with the people of Kurdistan, it must
reverse its decision without delay and allow the
Kurds abroad to exercise their right to vote. This
is the only patriotic course of action. If it fails
to do so, it will alienate an important segment of
the Kurds and will lose their support completely,
which would please our enemies. For the sake of
Kurdistan and its people, let us hope that wiser
heads will prevail.
Copyright, respective author or news agency
Top |
Kurd Net
does not take credit for and is not responsible for the content of news
information on this page
|
®
