The prevailing wisdom in Sulaimaniyah is that the referendum is not a vote on independence at all, but rather a mandate for the perpetuation of autocratic, predatory governance by both the K.D.P. and P.U.K.-administered zones in favor of the K.D.P. However, a closer look reveals that opposition reflects rising popular frustration with the growing political and economic power imbalances between the K.D.P. Given its significance as the “city of struggle and sacrifice” for its role at the vanguard of the resistance to the Ba’ath regime, it seems ironic that Sulaimaniyah seems unmoved by President Massoud Barzani’s appeals to Kurdish nationalism and statehood.
Last week, as parliament convened for the first time in two years since being forcibly dissolved, 43 M.P.s (of 111) from Gorran, Komal, and the P.U.K.-most of them from Sulaimaniyah-refused to participate in what they considered to be an illegal session with the sole purpose of legitimizing an “unlawful” referendum. A recent public opinion survey which projected that 66 percent of its residents will either vote against independence or abstain in the September 25 referendum. While independence rallies pack stadiums in the Kurdish Democratic Party (K.D.P.)-controlled governorates of Duhok and Erbil, the governorates under the administration of the rival Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (P.U.K.), Sulaimaniyah and Halabja, have been far less enthusiastic. One survey estimated the total “yes” vote at 67 percent, far below the 99 percent majority recorded in a 2005 non-binding referendum. While much of the international dialogue concerning the Kurdistan Region of Iraq’s independence referendum has concerned will of “Kurdish people,” the media and international community have ignored the fact that the Kurds themselves are deeply divided on the issue.
0 kommentar(er)
