| Iraqi Turkmen Human Rights Research Foundation | S O İ T M |
It is not known why the provincial elections in the
Kurdish-administered region were not organized with the Iraqi provincial
elections on 31 January 2009, which would certainly have decreased the expenses
- saving both time and effort. Furthermore, despite that the so-called Kurdish
parliament approved an election law that said the Iraqi Independent High
Election Commission (IHEC) should organize the vote, but Barzani
rejected it. He refused
even supervision by IHEC. All these uncooperative approaches are part of
the well-known policy of the Barzani administration to impose its will on the
Iraqi state, and negatively influence the reconciliation and state building
processes. By forbidding
independent monitoring, the Kurdish authorities violate the basics of
democracy. In addition to these unwelcome policies, Barzani has requested that
the Iraqi government should finance the provincial elections in the Kurdish-administered
region. Unfortunately, such supremacy of Barzani’s leadership is reflected
on the administration in the Kurdish region and influences the system
negatively. The leadership of political parties remains dominated by a single
group. Family members hold high positions in administration and possess the key
resources of economy and control trade. Only party members are appointed to the
government. The opposition is almost absent. The security system is politicized
and manned by party militias. Corruption is endemic, detention without trial
and torture is widely and systematically applied, while the independent media
is small and suppressed. In the earlier experiences of election in
Kurdish-administered region, the elections of 1992 followed by two years of
mistrust and competition between KUP and KDP to grab as much as power continued
by four years bloody clashes. Careful observation of these elections will also examine the
exaggerated population statistics of the Kurdish administration, which has
increased the number of Kurdish parliamentarians in the Iraqi Parliament and
grants to them a large percentage of the Iraqi budget. Voter numbers in the
Kurdish-administered area, which was 971,953 in the 1992 elections, should be
approximately 1.6 million, while the Kurdish administration has presented
2,570,000 voters. The Iraqi population statistics of UNISCO are also
contradicts the Kurdish statistics. Of note is that thousands of Kurdish
families moved to the regions newly controlled by Kurdish Peshmerga and large
numbers of Kurds fled The unconstructive policy of Kurdish administration toward
the non-governing communities (minorities), who are abundant in the Kurdish-administered
region, has been proved. Puppet parties were established to serve the interests
of Kurdish political parties. They are all marginalized in administration;
Turkmen in Under such circumstances, organization of these elections by
the already politicized governmental administrations and employment of party’s
Peshmerga militias to guard the election processes are considered one of the
major threats to the impartiality of the elections. Unfortunately, the international
authorities, the United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI), the Iraqi
government and the international and national civil society organizations have
almost completely overlooked the intimidating atmosphere. To reveal the will of the people, strengthen the
democratization processes and protect the minority representation in
Kurdish-administered region, we urge ·
The international community and the UNAMI to strictly
observe all the processes of the provincial elections in the region. ·
The Iraqi parliament and the Iraqi government to investigate
the inflated statistics of the Kurdish administration and examine the election
results. 01 May 2009 Iraqi Turkmen Human Rights Research Foundation (SOITM) Assyria Council of Yazidi Movement for Reform and
Progress Shabak Democratic Assembly (Human
Rights Office)
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