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The Timing and Place of Barzani’s Speech
30.7.2012
By Hiwa Osman
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Ekurd.net |
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Hiwa Osman, IWPR Iraq’s country director, previously
served as Iraqi president Jalal Talabani’s media
adviser.
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Read more by the Author
July 30, 2012
President Barzani’s speech about the current crisis
with Baghdad and the issues surrounding the removal
of Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki was right in
that it answered his critics, but it should have
been given to a different audience, in a different
place, at a different time and in a different
language.
The speech did not achieve the impact it should
have, especially as the crisis escalated and Iraqi
soldiers approached the Syrian border close to
Kurdish territories.
As an observer, I was first of all surprised that
the speech was not televised. The second surprise
was that it was in Kurdish. Especially with the
recent escalation of tensions, Iraqi Arab public
opinion is very much against the Kurdish region. The
media in Baghdad has been full of pro-Maliki voices
to say the least, and they are all depicting Kurds
as those who want everything.
President Barzani’s speech touched on many issues
related to the future of Iraq as a whole, not just
as pertains to the Kurds. One of the key points in
talks with Baghdad has been the vision of the
country’s federal future. But this is not known to
the Arab public.
In the absence of a strong Kurdish presence in
Baghdad’s media, a televised message from President
Barzani in Arabic for the people of Iraq would have
explained the Kurdish position to the rest of Iraq.
It would have also been a strong response to
Maliki’s NRT interview.
Right now, the text of the speech is available in
Kurdish. An Arabic translation is available on the
presidency website. At the time of writing this
article, the Kurdish text had received 2,900 hits;
the Arabic, 680 hits.
A day after the speech, very few websites or news
services, apart from Kurdish ones, ran the story.
Even the KDP’s newspaper in Baghdad, Al-Taakhi, ran
a summary of the speech in Arabic and said that they
would provide the full text the following day.
Although the Kurdish audience has heard many of the
points that were raised in the speech, it conveyed
less hope and confidence in the future, along with a
number of unanswered questions and issues that need
more explanation.
The main question being: if confidence in Maliki was
lost as far back as 2008, why did the Erbil Accord
take place and why was Maliki appointed as PM two
years after that? Shouldn’t this speech or the one
Barzani made at Newroz have been delivered in 2008
or shortly thereafter?
This leads to the issue of Maliki’s poor performance
and warnings that he was leading the country to an
unknown destination. There should have been constant
reminders to the public by ministers and
representatives in Baghdad.
As things stand, it seems that the Kurdish officials
in Baghdad have no issues with Maliki; it is only
those in Erbil. This should have been dealt with a
while back,www.ekurd.net
and the reverse should have been true.
President Barzani should have been the person to
settle the dispute and not the one to initiate it or
the last resort. This would have been done by
representatives trusted to think and make decisions
independently, without having to go back to Erbil
about everything.
The final impression of the speech is of being stuck
and not knowing what to do, offering anyone who has
a better solution to come and help.
At times of crisis, the people look to the leaders
for answers and guidance. The leaders must have
answers and provide a roadmap for the future.
Hiwa Osman is IWPR’s country director in Iraq, previously
served as Iraqi president Jalal Talabani’s media
adviser, a regular contributing writer and columnist for
Ekurd.net. Osman's
website is www.hiwaosman.com
Copyright © 2012 Ekurd.net
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