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Kurds need real choice in coming elections
20.5.2009
By Heval Hylan - opinion
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May
20, 2009
Auckland, New Zealand, —
Parliamentary elections will take place in Iraqi
Kurdistan on July 25. Of course, Kurds inside the
country do not have any choice but to comply and do
as they are told in the upcoming elections. There is
no independent opposition or national press which
can represent the free voice and mood of the Kurds.
It is obvious that when democracy is absent,
dictators are confused and irritated, in particular
during the pre-election phases. The Kurds ought to
be conscious that the current leaders – Iraqi
President Jalal Talabani’s Patriotic Union of
Kurdistan and Kurdistan President Massoud Barzani’s
Kurdistan Democratic Party – may use any means to
reach their goals. The people of Kurdistan should
wake up and not misuse their precious voice when
opportunity knocks on their doors.
In a recent TV interview in Kurdistan, Saro Qadir, a
third-tier leader of the Kurdistan Democratic Party,
stated that there was practically no opposition to
the upcoming elections. The only opposition, he
said, was a handful of people who have sold
themselves to foreigners or have been paid by
outsiders to damage the reputation of KDP-style
democracy.
This type of statement is dangerous and damages
whatever reputation remains of the KDP and its
leaders. Personally, I have not been paid to write
for the sake of democracy and human rights.
At a time when the world is moving inevitably toward
the rise of democracy, Kurdistan stands out for its
ever-increasing narrow-mindedness on democratic and
human rights norms. Confident of his manipulative
powers and control of the electoral process,www.ekurd.net
Barzani has called for public support. He has openly
reasoned that if the people strongly oppose his
rule, they can always reject the government and
replace it with another – which the people have
never done. But who dares to do so?
Talabani and Barzani, who promised a safe haven and
no more killing, are doing nothing more than
cheating the Kurds. People who belong to the roots
of the Kurdish cities have become foreigners in
their own cities. Most valuable pieces of land now
belong to the Barzani or Talabani families and
nothing is left for the rest.
A pitched battle between the federal regime and the
unofficially organized opposition is now underway in
Kurdistan. With the support of other ethnic groups,
the Kurds have to make a move.
Today Kurdistan is owned by a few family members of
Talabani-Barzani Ltd. The people in Kurdistan must
understand that a lawful democratic government will
be able to deal with the real needs of the Kurds
more effectively than any self-imposed dictator.
The Talabani-Barzani combination is taking advantage
of the innocent people. If all political forces
unite, they would certainly provide concrete hope to
the people of Kurdistan.
Despite habitual multiparty elections, most of the
minimal conditions necessary for the practice of
democracy – particularly fair elections, adequate
opportunities for independent political
opinion-making and political organizations, and
minimal protection for the individual from arbitrary
state power – hardly exist in Kurdistan.
In other words, elections in Kurdistan are seen as
so unfairly conducted and prejudiced against the
opposition that they are a mere sham used to endorse
the rule of the dictator, albeit an elected
dictator. Such features of authoritarianism have
become more pronounced since false unification took
place and “famous” surname proprietors took over.
The free press has ceased to function. There is no
freedom of the press, only freedom to lie on the
government's behalf, coupled with a total news
blackout of all unfavorable news.
The government-controlled print and electronic media
play their roles in promoting and legitimizing the
government’s mastery and in discrediting the
opposition and dissent generally. For those who
still refuse to bow and scrape, some kind of
punishment awaits them.
Kurdistan and Iraq share many commonalities and
similarities, especially in the prosecution and
persecution of activists and in arbitrary detention
without trial under precautionary laws.
There is no doubt that the Kurds have faith they can
improve the nation for the better if they continue
to struggle and try. “Election” is a good word for
the Kurds and their worldwide friends – even though
they are unconstitutional and undemocratic.
We have learned that Talabani and Barzani will do
whatever it takes to win the elections. The results
are crystal clear – 50/50 – and of course there is
no room for opposition in the house,www.ekurd.net
because prior to the coming elections in Kurdistan,
historical precedent suggests that Presidents
Barzani and Talabani will find a way to “win” the
elections despite the inauspicious context of
economic corruption.
The only way people in Kurdistan would see the
election as legitimate and a step forward is if the
following criteria are met:
1) A democratic Constitution is ratified and
implemented.
2) Political organizations with different programs
are legally allowed to function in an open and free
environment;
3) A free press is legal and operational;
4) Competing political organizations and parties
have unrestricted access to a free press and equal
access to government media and other campaign
outlets;
5) An independent commission is in charge of
monitoring and ensuring free and fair elections;
6) An autonomous court is able to investigate and
issue judgments on accusations and complaints with
regard to the fairness of the competition and actual
elections;
7) Kurdish civic society, international governmental
and nongovernmental entities are allowed to monitor
the elections as observers.
Democratic-minded Kurds in the diaspora should act
according to what is good for the future generation
of Kurdistan. They should stand against the
announced elections, which are more or less an
insult to the dignity of our people. It is time to
call on the international community not to be fooled
by the old KDP and PUK tactics.
(Heval Hylan is a Barrister and Solicitor of the
High Court of New Zealand and an International
Lawyer specialized in genocide cases. A human rights
activist and General Secretary of the Refugee
Council of New Zealand, he also writes legal and
political papers. He is a founder and trustee of
Reunity Trust Inc. © Copyright Heval Hylan.)
Copyright, respective
author or news agency, Heval
Hylan | upiasia com
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