Sulaimaniyah Sceptical of Campaign Promises

Multi-coloured political posters decorate the main streets of Sulaimaniyah, the main city in the northeast of the Kurdish region, competing with each other for wall space and the attention of prospective voters.

The promises on these banners are as varied as the parties themselves.

A sign from the Kurdish Unity List offers “a quick programme for restoring water, electricity and fuel”. The list brings together the two main Kurdish parties, the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, PUK, and the Kurdistan Democratic Party, KDP, plus other political groups for the election to the Iraqi National Assembly; the parties are standing separately for governorate-level and Kurdish regional assembly ballots.

Another poster, from the Kurdistan Democratic Socialists, promises a new orphanage, while the Toilers’ and Independents’ Party reaches out to women, pledging equality between the sexes.

Many Kurdish voters say they know from experience that these promises are worth little more than the paper on which they are printed.

“Kurdistan people have experience with the Kurdish authorities. That is why they are skeptical of them,” said Fahradin Qadir, head of a radio station run by the Islamic League in Kurdistan.

Iraqi Kurds have more recent experience with democracy than their Arab neighbours. In addition to municipal elections, voters elected a Kurdish assembly in 1992, the year after Saddam Hussein lost control over the provinces of Sulaimaniyah, Arbil and Dahuk.

But disputes over that election ultimately sparked a civil war between the region’s largest factions, the KDP and PUK. Today, the two parties administer the Kurdish territories together and have formed a joint ticket for the transitional National Assembly election.

The future status of Kirkuk is one of the top campaign themes. Some Kurds want to see the oil-rich city become the capital of an independent Kurdistan, but Kirkuk lies outside the Kurdish-administered area and is home to large numbers of Arabs, Turkoman and other minorities. Hundreds of thousands of Kurds were expelled from Kirkuk as part of Saddam’s “Arabisation” policy, which the Kurdish parties promise to reverse.

A Kurdish Unity List poster shows a picture of an oil well with the slogan, “Kirkuk is a Kurdish Treasure”. But voters are doubtful the parties can deliver on the pledge.

“Recently the ruling Patriotic Union of Kurdistan and the Kurdistan Democratic Parity have had a good position on Kirkuk, but I don’t think they can remake it as a Kurdish city and re-annex it to Kurdistan,” said driver Hiwa Jamal.

Kirkuk resident Kaiywan Mahmud said although he is sceptical that the parties will succeed in getting Kirkuk incorporated into the Kurdish region, he will still go to the polls on January 30.

“Kurds in Kirkuk have to vote to show the real number of the Kurds,” he said.

Providing basic services such as electricity and fuel is another popular campaign promise. Baran Dilshad and Didar Kamaran, two university students, say that they cannot get married because of the housing shortage in Sulaimaniyah.

“The PUK and KDP get the majority of the seats in the election, but why haven’t they implemented any promises in the last 13 years?” asked Dilshad.

A member of the PUK called the voter scepticism “baseless.”

“As a government we have implemented any promises we have given people,” said Azad Jundiani, head of the PUK’s media centre. “And in cases where we haven’t been able to carry out our promises, we have done our best for them.”

Arif Tayfur, a member of the KDP’s political bureau, admits voters have the right to be doubtful, because not everything that was promised has been delivered. The months ahead will determine which politicians can be trusted to keep their promises, he said.

Some voters say the Kurdish parties simply do not have the power to keep their campaign pledges. They fear that there are forces both inside and outside Iraq working against the Kurds. “Kurds have many enemies, said painter Soran Rafat. “They fear a strong Kurdish entity. That is why they work to prevent it.”

Rebaz Mahmood is an IWPR trainee journalist in Iraq.