The Intensification of Violence is Evidence of Failure for the KDP and PUK

By Mufid Abdulla: When the Gorran party declared their statement on 27 January 2011 calling for the dissolving of the government and Kurdistan Parliament, the two ruling parties were not only angry, they were fuming. This was the reason for their action of moving their forces to an area adjacent to the headquarters of the Gorran party after almost two and half months.

The Gorran party is not only adamant about their statement but the people of Kurdistan in cities and towns across Kurdistan are uprising and the two other opposition groups, the Islamic League and the Islamic Union are joining the voice of the Gorran party. The two Islamic groups are advocating the Turkish style of rule which is proving to be more modern, especially in recent days.

One of the demands of the opposition is an independent election, advocating an independent, fair, democratic state and verified by the Independent Commission of High Election. Of course the transitional government will have to appoint a commissioner. This will be an all-change affair, but not just for the Gorran party who is trying to win a seat in another part of Kurdistan. There are two main reasons for this.

The two ruling parties, especially the KDP, have managed to gain and grasp seats in Parliament through fraud and poll rigging; acts which have been witnessed by many observers. But it will be a milestone in Kurdistan’s history, perhaps marking the historic downfall of Barzani’s KDP which has done more harm to the 21 year history of our defector government than any other political party. Of course the KDP will not go to the polls and say that we will lose. The opposition package for reform comprises the dissolving of the three powers in the Kurdistan Parliament, the Prime Minister and the President of Kurdistan. The opposition is asking for a transitional government which can bring about a transitional period including dissolving the militia and the rule of the two political parties. Following this will be the preparation for an independent commission for election. But these are not normal circumstances. As Mandela stated “it always seems impossible until it is done”. Today opposition in Kurdistan is not only asking for political revolution, but also the striving peacefully for a social one.

The problem, though, is that Kurdistan cannot escape its exceptional position quite so easily. It is not a nation like others because no nation is quite like another. Kurdistan is not used to a change of government of that kind. In Kurdistan, as elsewhere, voters are keen to penalise the governments that led them into all political and economic crises. Old politics can be inconveniently tenacious in any country. The events of 17^th February are a reminder of one aspect of that; in the context of the civil war imposed in the past by the two ruling parties. When the Tunisian and Egyptian people recently took the world by surprise, those who felt threatened by that uprising were quick to talk. Firstly, Barzani in several speeches told people that Kurdistan is not like Egypt or Tunisia. But in reality the region is fundamentally interconnected. We are not sharing a language and geography but we are always being influenced by their culture and religion. I hope the two ruling parties the KDP and PUK will not fight back with full force because what they are facing now are the demands of the people to leave their power and hand it to the people who have been excluded from it for the last 21 years.

With regards to the renewed clashes between the demonstrators and government forces, for the last two days, after the failure of the two ruling parties to listen and obey the demands of the people, they have intensified their attack of Azadi Square in Sulaymani. As a result, up to now hundreds of people have been injured by different weapons such as tear gas, bullets and stones thrown by government forces. Almost all of the universities and markets in Sulaymani have been paralysed. Most of the leaders of the demonstrations have either been jailed or have been targeted to be sent to jail in the next few days. I will call the last two days murderous days in which raids of writers and intellectuals have taken place such as Dr Faruk Rafiq, a prominent modern political figure amongst the demonstrators, and Rebin Hardy, the well-known Kurdish writer. Other people also include Dr Hajar Othman, a doctor who is well known for his bravery in the Kurdish struggle for the treatment and operation of all injuries in the 1980s when he joined the Kurdish movement. Dr Hajar graduated from medical school in Baghdad University and completed further education in Germany. Now he is a lecturer in the University of Sulaymani. The obvious thing to say, bearing in mind this current violence and government strategy of attacking peaceful demonstrators, is that the two ruling parties’ strategy is all a huge lie; they have little incentive to reach a deal! They do not want to abandon corruption and nepotism.

I believe that the only way to solve the current crisis in the south of Kurdistan is for Talabani and Barzani to relinquish power with their henchmen; which is trying to copy Saddam’s rule of the 1980’s.The continuity of the KDP and PUK is the real roadblock to renewal and will not be able to offer a credible alternative. Otherwise, an independent election could solve this. In the meantime, they are turning Kurdistan into a hyper-militarised state. The question is not whether change is coming to Kurdistan, but what its nature and scope will be.