MESOP NOTEBOOK – Kurdish KDP leader: Islamists make up Faili lists to deflect the Kurd’s votes

23.3.2014 – Shafaq News / In an interview that has not lacked frankness with ” Shafaq News ” , the leader of Kurdistan Democratic Party and the official of its fifth branch in Baghdad , Mohammad Amin Al-Dalwi revealed a number of facts that have a role in elections race , pointing out that preparations are underway in Baghdad to run in this election .

Al-Dalwi says that there is ” a deliberate exaggeration ” in the matter of preparing the Kurds who are in the capital, Baghdad , noting that some parties claim that there are about million to two million Kurdish people .

He adds that the truth and the reality is not like that as the population changes and what the Kurds have suffered impacted greatly on their numbers , saying that when he speaks of what they have affected from, they refer to ” decades of continuous repression , persecution , displacement , deportation and various aspects of economic distress .”

When asked if the number of Kurds are identical to what the inventory Approximate conducted by his party revealed earlier which estimated the number of Kurdish houses in Baghdad as exceed 13 000 house comprising to 100-150 thousand people , the number of people who are entitled to vote allows Kurds to get a seat or more in the Parliament , but that did not happen , why ? He answers that Kurds are supposed a seat or more according to these estimates if involved in one list . On the reason of not participating in one unified list , Kurdish parties say that they have made all effort in order to accomplish a unified Kurdish list that represent different political, religious and secular views and to achieve this goal Kurdish parties initiated to contact all parties wishing to participate in these elections and made ​”all facilities and concessions ” for the meetings to form a coalition or a Kurdish unified alliance in Baghdad that includes everyone , so that no party would feel that it is from outside party or does not represent it .

He explains that the Kurdish parties have agreed not to enter with the name of Kurdistan alliance in this election, as well as not to nominate any member of the party by it to have all the candidates of the list from Faili Kurds , but he also said the parties that were negotiating with Kurdish parties rejected all these proposals and insisted on the ( Faili’s name only) without reference to the word Kurds .

He pointed out that this ” is not acceptable,” stressing that Failis are a part of the Kurdish people.

He added that he would like to be more open and transparent and says that those parties which had been negotiating with us was one of prominent figures in Islamic parties and has no independent party without denying the existence of ” independent and sincere candidates ” in this list at the same time . Al-Dalwi accuses explicitly Islamic parties of targeting Kurdish votes in Baghdad in order not to win seats that represent them in the parliament next year, citing opposition to all these parties in the parliament to grant Faili Kurds quota in the electoral law . He stated that Kurdistan Alliance is the only party which insisted on granting Faili Kurds a number of seats in the parliament according to the quota system , adding that the majority Islamic opposition prevented that from happening.

With regard to the previous provincial elections, which resulted in the victory of Kurds with two seats , one in Baghdad and the other in Wasit where two candidates for the fifth branch of Kurdistan Democratic Party won them, Dawi pointed out that Kurdistan Democratic Party defends Faili Kurds and has nominated two Faili Kurdish figures not members of the party .

He points out that some party cadres criticized the fifth branch for choosing independent Kurdish elements , noting that he assured to critics that the seats are reserved for Faili Kurds and this is their right . Dawi notes that this position has proved the invalidity of claims of those who accused the fifth branch of exploiting quota seats of Failis to its own party members, pointing out that the goal of the branch is to give Kurds   seats that prove their presence in Baghdad and other provinces away from partisanship and others. About the sources of funding for candidates to contest the next election on the ” Kurdistan alliance ,” list , Dawi explains Kurdish coalition list support its candidates by publications and media only as they seek for themselves to get voters’ votes who believe that they represent them , indicating that the list does not have a lot of money to spend on candidates, as some lists do.

Answering a question about the extent of optimism with the participation of the Kurds in Baghdad in the next election and vote for the Kurdish   coalition” Dawi said “We are optimistic in partnership to provide inter objective factors which increase the sense of nationalism in the Kurdish individual in Baghdad after they have been confirmed by government practices that the government dealing with the Kurdish issue is no different from previous governments.

He adds that the government disclaimer of its agreements with the regional government and violating the constitution and the creation of various crises , most recently cut salaries for the staff of the province , which has not been done even by the previous governments led to the increased sense of nationalism among the Kurds in Baghdad , adding that this practice serves as a ” true war ” to Kurdistan people to push the Kurds to separate .He continues, it is not possible to pay the salaries for all Iraqi employees except for the region which is a clear violation of the Iraqi constitution .The Iraqi constitution confirms that it has excluded the salaries of employees of Iraq for any reason, because they it is their livelihood , pointing to the situation in Iraq which became known to everyone as everyone should estimate the situation.

Dalwi considers the federal government’s decision to cut salaries for the staff of the region as a ” clear accusation of the Kurds that they are not Iraqis ,” adding that ” in this case, if we say we are not Iraqis then welcome   you have your borders and we have our borders .”

He added ” It seem that the federal government think that they are capable with this political mentality to undermine the will of the Kurdish people , but this is impossible .”On the criticism directed by some people to the Kurdish parties and the regional government on the lack of interest and support for Faili Kurds, Dalwi said that what has been provided by the regional government cannot be compared to the size of the tragedy suffered by this segment of injustice and national and religious oppression.

He stresses that the government bears full responsibility for everything that happened toward the right of Faili Kurds of injustice and oppression and the looting their property as an successor of the previous governments .Al-Dalwi calls at the end of the interview all parties to move away from the exchange of criticism and accusations in the media and Internet sites, indicating that it only serve hostile agendas. http://english.shafaaq.com/index.php/interviews/9305-kurdish-leader-islamists-make-up-faili-lists-to-deflect-the-kurd-s-votes