Runner in Kurdistan Polls Promises Spouses for Singles, Salaries Without Work

 

By Salih Qadir


ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – Among the many candidates running in the September 21 polls for autonomous Iraqi Kurdistan’s own parliament, Zana Sherwani, 28, stands out for his unique campaign promises.

“I will find husbands for unmarried women, help single men marry and cancel high school final exams,” the young and independent hopeful, who is running under the Future List (Aynda), promises in his short and comic campaign videos.

“I will give everybody a salary so that they can stay up all night on Facebook and sleep till noon without having to worry about jobs,” says Sherwani, who calls himself Sarok Zana, or President Zana.

The elections for the self-rule Kurdish enclave in northern Iraq are a serious affair, with the main opposition Change Movement (Gorran) trying to loosen the grip of the ruling Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) and Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) on power.

Gorran, which was formed after breaking away from the PUK, is hoping to grab more than the 25 seats it won in the regional parliament in 2009.

Campaign pledges by the majority of the 31 parties in the race include promises such as greater control over the Kurdistan Region’s oil production and exports, and vows to not let up against Baghdad in rows over disputed territories that are claimed by both the Kurds and the Arab central government in Baghdad.

But Sherwani’s agenda strikes a chord with some young and undecided voters.

“People cannot help but applause when they see me. Kurds all over the Middle East know me as Sarok Zana,” he told Rudaw in an interview. “Every day, young people contact me and ask me to visit them,” he said.

Commenting on his campaign promises, Sherwani said that his comic style fits the mood of the elections and the region’s politics, and that he will not be pulling any punches if he wins.

“I think the elections as well as the parliament are a joke, and when I make it to parliament I will stand up and dance every time the speaker doesn’t listen to me,” he said. “If the head of parliament turns down my request to spend at least 10 percent of the oil revenue on people, I will punch him in the face.”

Sherwani said that even though he registered the name of his group 15 years ago, the Kurdish government granted him a license only a week ago. Since then, he claimed, “I have matched 35 single men and women together.”

Given the choice, he said he would like to replace the oil minister, Ashti Hawrami.

“I will build oil and natural gas pipes into every household in Kurdistan,” he said, rattling off another of his tongue-in-cheek promises.

His solution for the vast tracts of disputed territories over which Baghdad and Erbil have been in a deadlock since 2003: “Compromise only on one inch of Kurdistan soil; we will intimidate our enemies and gouge out their eyes.”

According to Sherwani, he tried to run in the 2005 elections under the Honesty Party he had just founded, but was browbeaten by other, more powerful politicians.

“We couldn’t participate in the 2005 election due to threats from three powerful politicians,” he said. “They promised to make me the Minister of Youth and Sports if we dropped the race. They never fulfilled their promise.”

“I am 100 percent sure that I will make an MP,” he said. “I will win enough votes for two seats. My confidence comes form people’s faith in me.”