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By Kamal Chomani:
Ever since the Kurdish Uprising in March 1991, we have looked forward to solving problems and establishing the rule of law and a democratic regime. However, since then we have not applied an administrative system that implements policies accountably and transparently. Today Kurdistan is suffering from multiple crises and problems that seem insoluble under the reign of the two ruling parties, the KDP and PUK.
The departure of US forces has left many problems for all of Iraq and, in particular, for the Kurds. Article 140 has already been dismissed, although Kirkuk is not yet a part of Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) territory. Radical forces in Iraq are getting stronger, which can be considered another threat to the Kurds. Issues with the central government – such as the Peshmerge forces, oil and gas contracts, disputed areas, article 140 of the constitution and the sovereignty budget – have not been solved so far. Apart from all these terrible problems for the Kurds, the two ruling parties have not bothered to develop any new policies that will bring benefits: new democratic, strategic policies, not tribal ones.
Domestically, we have thousands of unsolved problems. People are not satisfied with public services. The majority of people are complaining about the current political and economical situation. Democracy, human rights, women rights, freedom of speech, and equality are very superficial concepts in Kurdistan. People are not able to express themselves freely, either in the media or in public – for example through demonstrations, especially in the KDP zone. KDP and PUK hegemony has controlled almost all social, economic, educational and governmental fields. Nepotism is rife in all offices in the KRG. The families of Barzani and Talabani have controlled almost all the high positions. And yet they want more control. The KRG’s infrastructure is all in oil. The rural areas are becoming depopulated day by day. Kurdish people buy Iranian onions and Turkish nuts. The strategic agreement between the KDP and PUK has silenced almost any dissenting voices within the two political parties.
Masoud Barzani, president of the Kurdistan region, has established many committees to solve problems: the latest one is the committee of fact finding about the turmoil in Duhok province in which the Islamic Union headquarters were set on fire. None of these committees, set up since 2005, have achieved anything so far. After the escape of Tariq Ramadhan, the only living pilot who allegedly took part in the Hallabja chemical bombardment, Masoud Barzani set a committee. The same happened for those who participated in the Anfal and those who have intelligence files indicating that they worked with the Istikhbarat of the former regime. Another committee was for those who have illegally created villas between Arbil and Pirmam. And dozens more committees were set up, including with the most recent one to investigate the criminals who where behind the Duhok disorder. None of the committees have achieved anything so far. However, those committees which did anything at all produced strange results – such as the committee which decided that Sardasht Othman, the young journalist who was killed for his critical articles, was a terrorist. Or the committee which was set to investigate about oil smuggling to Iran or the one which was set up to investigate the 17th February crackdown on demonstrations. Any democracy doesn’t develop by setting up committees: rules and laws should work. However, any committees should do something meaningful. Otherwise people will not trust in their presidency, as our people do not right now.
Kurdistan is a region which could be sunk under the weight of widespread corruption. One doesn’t need to write too many things to exemplify this. We give a practical example: two years ago, when Nechirvan Barzani, the former Prime Minster, left the position to Dr. Barham Salih, the current Prime Minister, he said that there is 4 billion dollars in spare oil money and it has been put in a bank. So, after two years, this money with the bank’s additional rate of interest must now be about 5 billion dollars. Barham Salih, during a parliamentary session, to which he was invited to be questioned about the oil contracts, reiterated Nechirvan’s speech.
Who knows where this money is right now?
There is a wide range of investment in Kurdistan, but the only people who benefit from it are the political leaders from both parties. They have monopolized the market. We have many examples in which businessmen have asked the KRG to invest in a project, but they would not get the backing unless they are willing to share it with political leaders. If you look at Arbil, you will see dozens of malls that belong to KDP people. The same also often happens in Sulaymaniyah.
In Kurdistan, still we have two intelligence forces: Parastn which belongs to KDP and Zaniyari which belongs to PUK. We still have two Peshmerge forces, two police and two zones in one region: the KDP zone and the PUK zone, which are known as the yellow (KDP’s flag is yellow) and green (PUK’s flag is green) regions.
Fazil Mirani, secretary of the KDP’s politburo, said that the KDP is not afraid of the Arab spring reaching Kurdistan because Masoud Bazani alone has more than 20,000 Peshmerges. This statement was published widely amongst the Kurdish media, yet Mirani didn’t deny it.
The KDP and PUK have armed forces which is illegal according to democratic standards, the Iraqi constitution and the KRG’s laws since it is unlawful and undemocratic for any political parties to possess armed forces. Possessing armed forces was the main reason behind the victimizing of thousands of demonstrators in spring 2010 in Sulaymaniyah by KDP forces.
Barzani then announced that he will make some serious reforms. The first of these reforms have not yet been implemented but Fuad Hussein, the secretary of Barzani’s office, has said that the second batch of reforms will be announced in the coming days.
The criminals, who were meant to have been summoned to court for their role in attacking the demonstrations, walk freely in the streets while journalists and civil activists are arrested every day.
Jalal Talabani is trying to gather all the political parties in Baghdad to peacefully resolve their problems around a table. But he has never attempted to call on all the Kurdish political parties to solve ongoing problems around a table – even though his party is partly responsible for almost all the problems in the region.
Kurdish democracy and the KRG will not progress if the problems are not solved in the near future. However, I am utterly disappointed by the progress made during the reign of the two ruling parties. A brighter future lies ahead, but it will need big efforts to reach it. We should continue our struggle; otherwise we will have a political system more rigid than the current Assad’s and the former Mubarak’s.
Copyright © 2011 Kurdistantribune.com
