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By Mufid Abdulla:
When the Gorran movement won 25 seats on 25th July 2009 it created an upheaval in the history of politics in the south of Kurdistan. The main barriers to entering into opposition in the Kurdistan Parliament were removed. Gorran knew then that the rebuilding task was huge. They also knew that the role of the opposition must be increased even beyond the expanded level to which the Gorran leaders’ transformative agenda had already brought it. At the beginning the situation was more fragile than we expected because Gorran and their affiliates were being attacked by all sorts of weapons both mentally and physically. Gorran has demonstrated the way politics can work and move forward.
We all know that the Gorran Party has reached this current stage because the two ruling parties have lost touch and let down the mass of the people. In the early days there was a slight difference between the PUK and the KDP, with the PUK slightly swayed towards leftist ideas. But, from the start of the 21st century to the present day, their differences have been demolished and in principle they have become one party with no differences other than the names and faces.
At the Wusha Company the Gorran Party leadership is surrounded by traditional officials who have risen to senior grades because they are great at thinking inside the box, but have limited capacity for venturing outside it. After two years the Gorran leadership has raised some themes/ideas that they could find useful and some that will get them nowhere. A big organisation like Gorran should not go to work with controversial people. These people mismanaged the people’s money when they were in power. The Gorran party now needs to realise, after two years of deliberation, that their democratic movement is faced with three major immediate challenges:
1. The Gorran movement should lead the creation of a shadow government as soon as possible from the technocrat MPs we currently have in the Kurdistan Parliament, in collaboration with all the opposition parties. Gorran has been waiting for so long to be seen as the party of government and not just a party for campaigning. Nawshirwan Mustafa, the leader of Gorran, has been involved in professional politics for nearly all of his adult life. So have the other opposition leaders. They need the spark that is brought about by people who do not think of politics just in terms of the latest focus group or polling result.
2. The Gorran Party up to now has not been clear whether it is a party or a rebellion of the people against the two ruling parties. For this reason the Gorran Party needs to organise a conference as soon as possible – and there is no excuse for any delays under any pretexts. The road to democracy is difficult and there is a long walk ahead. The Gorran Party needs a united programme not disunity. Only unity can bring progress to the movement. We are reminded of the early days of the Komala League when it contained two factions: one advocating a Maoist style of politics and the other believing in a Soviet Union Marxist-Leninist programme. Komala could not survive for too long with that disunity.
3. The Gorran Party should establish two focus groups, regarding women and young intellectuals. Gorran needs more of these intellectual agitators: these groups can shake things up a bit and generate arguments with constructive outcomes. The Gorran Party needs to become a vital political instrument: a weapon of mass persuasion. It is time to face up to this and take action.
