SULAIMANI, Kurdistan Region – Having failed to convince other Kurdish parties to boycott the Iraqi election, the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) has decided to take part “involuntarily,” remaining unapologetic about last year’s independence referendum and considering the election in disputed Kirkuk “illegitimate,” Dr Heshu Ali, a KDP candidate in Sulaimani, told Rudaw’s 10 Questions program.
“Getting more for Kurdistan” is the KDP’s official campaign slogan in Iraq’s parliamentary election, taking place on May 12, with a particular focus on the full implementation of the Iraqi constitution adopted in 2005.
The party is the largest in the Kurdistan Region, with 38 seats in the Kurdish parliament and 25 seats in Baghdad. It championed the Kurdish vote on independence despite the strong opposition of the Iraqi government, the Kurdistan Region’s neighbors, and the wider international community.
“We were of the view that this time there was no need to take part in the Iraqi political process. We asked for a consensus [among Kurdish parties] on this issue, but it did not materialize. When this did not materialize, we took part involuntarily,” Ali said.
“When we held the [September 25] referendum – something I am proud of – we decided to separate,” she said of the independence ballot, in which around 93 percent voted to break away from Iraq.
Following the referendum, Iraqi security forces and Iran-backed Hashd al-Shaabi paramilitaries drove the Peshmerga out of the majority of the disputed areas such as oil-rich Kirkuk, known to Kurds as the Jerusalem of Kurdistan.
Nechirvan Barzani, the KDP’s vice-president and prime minister of the Kurdistan Region, told party supporters on Monday that “even one vote matters” and that the Region needs a “stronger KDP” in Baghdad. However, the party has decided to boycott the election in Kirkuk, where it won two seats in the 2014 election.
Kurdish parties, like the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), which won six seats in Kirkuk that year, say that they do not approve of the KDP’s decision to abstain from the vote. They argue that fewer Kurdish votes in the province will result in less power for the Kurdish population, especially in light of the October 16 events that forced out the Kurdish governor and replaced him with an Arab.
The KDP blames the fall of Kirkuk on some elements within the PUK for their reported coordination with the Iraqi forces. The PUK denies the accusation, instead blaming the losses on the KDP-led independence referendum.
Both the PUK and the KDP, among others, supported the vote.
Dr Heshu Ali [L] sits among a mixed audience of voters in Rudaw's 10 Questions Programme.
Ali, 31, who holds a PhD in economics from a UK-based university, argues that Kirkuk is one place where Kurdish voters must take a stand against the Iraqi government.
“We did not take part in Kirkuk because we believe that the political process is the wrong process. In our view, and the view of all KDP supporters, we believe Kirkuk [has been] invaded ... we do not want to give legitimacy [when] Kirkuk has been occupied,” she told a mixed audience of voters participating in the program. She was applauded by KDP supporters.
She claimed that boycotting the election in Kirkuk would confirm the Kurdish identity of the city.
“I believe that if all the [Kurdish] parties in Kirkuk were to boycott together, then [just] 30 percent [of the population] would cast their vote. This would have proved that 70 percent of the people of Kirkuk are Kurds.”
Bakir Haji Rahim, a KDP member who took part in the programme with members of other parties, said the KDP wants to secure the long-held dream of independence.
“The KDP struggle has been to bring about a situation where the people of Kurdistan will reach the phase of independence, freedom and just like every other state in the world to have an independent state of Kurdistan,” he said.
However, now the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) has lost its chance to implement the results of the vote – after it was frozen by the KRG and nullified by the Iraqi Supreme Court – the KDP is now devoting its energies to forcing Baghdad to implement the Iraqi constitutional item by item, Rahim said.
Bakir Haji Rahim [back left] shares a ride with members of other parties as part of Rudaw's 10 Questions Programme.
Kurdish officials last year accused the Iraqi government of violating about a third of the constitution. The ruling Shiite National Alliance, however, accused the KRG of committing twice as many violations.
“The KDP themselves have violated the constitution in some aspects,” Choman Mohammed, a member of the Change Movement (Gorran), responded to Rahim’s comments.
He said the KDP and the PUK, two parties that have ruled the KRG for around three decades, have failed to achieve a government-to-government relationship with Baghdad.
“It was not about achieving our rights, or to fight against cutting the livelihood of the people [of Kurdistan]. On the contrary, what the Kurdish candidates did was an attempt to secure personal interests and the positions that they held since 2003,” Mohammed said.
The Iraqi government has cut the KRG budget since early 2014 in response to Erbil’s plan to export Kurdish oil to the international market independent of Baghdad. The Iraqi government says oil export falls under the exclusive powers of central government. The Shiite Arab-dominated government under the watch of Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi agreed in mid-March to send a budget installment to pay the wages of some KRG employees.
Mohammed said some Kurdish officials have failed voters. He pointed out the alleged corruption case against Hoshyar Zebari, a senior KDP leader, which resulted in his downfall as Iraq’s finance minister.
“It was in itself damaging the Kurdish legacy in the Iraqi government,” Mohammed said of one of the key ministerial roles lost by the Kurds since September 2016.
But it’s not just the KDP that has deputies and officials in Baghdad, the KDP’s Rahim pointed out. Gorran holds the position the deputy speaker of the Iraqi parliament, and that of the minister of the displaced.
The KDP’s good relationship with Turkey is also worrisome, said Hemin Qazi, a PUK member, highlighting the energy deals struck by the Barzani-led party with Ankara. This relationship has not stopped Turkey from attacking Kurdish villages or prevented the recent violations of Kurdish territory by the Turkish military.
He conceded, however, that the PUK’s good relationship with neighboring Iran does not mean Tehran will necessarily respect Kurdish borders. Iran targets these areas every now and then under the pretext of combatting Kurdish fighters opposed to its rule.
One issue affecting the people of Sulaimani is the ongoing Turkish ban on international flights to and from the city. Ankara has lifted the ban on KDP-controlled Erbil after it was imposed last year following the referendum, but it has decided to maintain it for PUK-controlled Sulaimani, claiming the party is providing support to the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), which is opposed to Turkey but headquartered in the Kurdistan Region’s Qandil Mountains.
KDP candidate Ali said there is little Kurdish MPs can do to remove the flight ban, saying their influence in Baghdad remains limited.
The priority for now is the KRG’s share of the Iraqi budget, she said, especially since the Iraqi parliament passed the budget law earlier this year, despite the objection of Kurdish MPs, capping it at 12.69 percent – down from 17 percent.
However, she was mindful that Kurdish MPs from all political parties have to “coordinate” to secure a better share for the Kurdish population.
She claimed that the Iraqi economy has “collapsed” under the weight of billions of dollars in loans, widespread corruption, and years of war. A Gorran voter taking part in the program pointed out the KRG is dependent on installments from Baghdad to pay its state employees.
The program, however, was overshadowed by two quiz questions posed by Rudaw presenter Ranj Sangawi.
The KDP has mentioned in its election manifesto that it is committed to the formation of the Iraqi Federal Council. A ruling by the Iraqi Supreme Court earlier this year “committed” the Iraqi parliament to work with related parties to pass a law to form the Federal Council in light of Articles 65 and 37 of the constitution, which stipulate the legislative branch consists of the parliament and Federal Council, and that the members of the Federal Council are derived from the regions and provinces.
Rudaw’s Sangawi asked Ali multiple times to name the Federal Council that should have been formed according to the constitution, but she failed answer, even though she claims to have read the constitution “more or less.”
She then failed to identify how many elections have been held in Iraq since 2003. First she said 12, and then changed her answer to eight.
May 12 will be the fourth parliamentary election since the new Iraq was founded following the US-led invasion.
Editor’s note: 10 Questions is one of Rudaw TV’s election specials. It invites candidates to answer questions from a mixed audience on issues that matter to the party and to voters. It is presented by Ranj Sangawi.
