In October 2017, a few weeks after Kurdistan’s independence referendum, the Iraqi army and Iranian-backed Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF, or Hashd al-Shaabi) forced Kurdish Peshmerga forces out of areas claimed by both Erbil and Baghdad. The territorial loss, especially of oil-rich Kirkuk, was a devastating blow to Kurds.
Most of the Kurdish political parties closed their offices in these areas. The KDP has not been able to reopen most of them, though its rival the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) has opened its main office in Kirkuk.
In the May 2018 Iraqi elections, the KDP did not run in Kirkuk. It did, though, field candidates in Nineveh and won six seats.
To return to Kirkuk this year, the KDP got guarantees from Baghdad, Shakhawan Abdullah, a former MP in the Iraqi parliament representing Kirkuk and the KDP's strongest candidate in the city, told Rudaw last month. The party was promised it would be able to raise the Kurdistan flag and campaign without pressure from security forces. Abdullah said this agreement with Baghdad would not have been possible without party leader Masoud Barzani’s “leverage” in Iraq.
Reconnecting with voters
The KDP has been almost totally absent in most of the disputed areas for four years, making it hard to connect with voters as it tries to reassert itself in areas fraught with ethnic tensions and sparring forces.
“The contact with the KDP supporters in Mosul and Nineveh has been very weak. Hashd al-Shaabi forces have oppressed and detained Peshmerga and KDP cadres in the Nineveh Plains several times,” Sherwan Dubardani, a KDP candidate in Nineveh campaigning for re-election, told Rudaw English.
He said they cannot move around or visit supporters freely in the province because of Hashd forces and “this has severely affected the link with the KDP supporters.”
In Kirkuk, the KDP’s campaign is limited to gatherings at temporary offices while its own building is still under the control of security forces.
The situation is even more fraught with difficulties in places like Shingal, northern Nineveh province where several armed forces operate, including some who see the KDP as a foe.
Last year, Baghdad and Erbil reached an agreement for the security and administration of troubled Shingal that gave the federal government the responsibility of removing the armed factions and creating a new force that recruits from the local population in order to restore security so Yazidi population that fled the Islamic State group (ISIS) can return. The deal has yet to be fully implemented.
On Saturday, a group of KDP officials and candidates, escorted by the Iraqi army, headed to Shingal to campaign, but they were prevented from entering the town by a group of people.
Qasim Shasho, head of Peshmerga forces in Shingal, told Rudaw they had made all preparations with the Iraqi army to hold the event, but were stopped by members of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) and Shingal Resistance Units (YBS) “who were disguised as civilians.” After several failed attempts to reach an agreement with the group on the road, the KDP team returned to Duhok.
PKK media reported that people were angry at the KDP for abandoning them when ISIS attacked Shingal in 2014.
The PKK and KDP are bitter rivals, with a long history of antagonism that at times leads to deadly clashes.
Mahma Khalil, Shingal mayor and KDP candidate, told Rudaw in late September that his posters have been torn by groups affiliated with the PKK. “Election campaigns in Shingal are not going normally. Our posters are attacked and the KDP candidates in Nineveh cannot visit our people and our security is not guaranteed,” he said.
The party expects to hold onto its six seats in Nineveh and hopes it can improve on its result there. In Kirkuk, the KDP would like Kurdish parties take at least six seats.
Harbinger of change?
Deputy head of the KDP Nechirvan Barzani, who is also president of the Kurdistan Region, said reopening their offices in the disputed areas is a “good step,” but their problems extend much further.
“KDP’s offices will definitely be reopened there. However, the matter is not the reopening of offices … Kirkuk is a deep and serious issue,” he told the party’s official media last month.
Kirkuk is home to Kurds, Arabs, and Turkmen with historic hostile relations between them. The Kurdish parties and forces were pushed out after Kirkuk participated in Kurdistan’s 2017 independence referendum. The Kurdish governor was replaced by an Arab, Rakan al-Jabouri, and Kurds complained of a new wave of “Arabization” with Arabs taking over Kurdish lands and Kurds being forced out of official roles.
Jabouri called for a brief delay of the election in Kirkuk because of fears of bias among Kurdish staff in the election commission office.
Abdullah believes they can make changes in Kirkuk if they return.
“With the return of the KDP many things will change. For example, the ongoing injustice should not continue in terms of services and marginalization of Kurds in [government] offices,” he told Rudaw.
“Regarding the security dossier, we believe that the current reality should change,” he said, adding that Kurds should have people in all levels of the security. “It is not possible to have the head of the operations from another ethnic group while the Kurds are the biggest force.”
The return of the Peshmerga to Kirkuk city is flatly rejected by Arabs and Turkmen. Erbil and Baghdad are taking steps to improve their cooperation in the disputed areas where ISIS takes advantage of a security gap between the two sides. Peshmerga commanders, however, insist that they will only be present in rural areas and under the command of Baghdad.
Zryan Rojhalat is a researcher at Rudaw Research Center. He believes success in the election could pave the way for the return of the KDP to the disputed areas and could improve security. “This can also have a role in the security of the areas,” he told Rudaw English. “The return of the KDP and all other political parties will surely be effective.”
