Kurdistan's political map is undergoing major changes with recent elections, says Nermeen Al-Mufti On Monday, the Islamic Union of Kurdistan (IUK) issued a statement saying that members of the Democratic Party of Kurdistan (DPK) of Masoud Barzani besieged the IUK and chanted offensive slogans. Other DPK members are said to have attacked the IUK television station. Speaking at an IUK rally in Irbil, Hadi Ali, representative of the IUK Political Bureau, said that the elections which were held on Saturday "proceeded normally until 4pm, after which time illegal practices, election irregularities, and acts of fraud occurred in several cities, especially Dahuk and Irbil." The IUK plans to sue the Higher Elections Commission for allegedly insulting the IUK representative during a news conference. The IUK is part of the Services and Reform List (SRL), which includes three other parties. According to preliminary results, the SRL won 11 seats of the 111 seat parliament of northern Iraq. Official sources say that hooligans carried out the attack on IUK quarters. In a telephone interview with Al-Ahram Weekly, Shahu Said, spokesman for the Gouran List for Change, or LFC, said that policemen and members of Barzani's party engaged in provocations against LFC members on Sunday night. Barzani's followers fired rounds in the air to celebrate Barzani's victory, injuring several people and killing one. The LFC is led by Nawshirwan Mustafa, formerly a senior member of Talabani's People's Union of Kurdistan (PUK). Said added that the same people have stormed the offices of the LFC, smashing doors and windows and tearing down posters and banners. They also broke into a satellite station, KNN, owned by the media groups of Nawshirwan Mustafa in Irbil. Also in Irbil, gunmen have broken into the offices of the LFC in the Al-Askari and Shorash neighbourhoods, as well as into the KNN offices in Shoman. In Dahuk, Said claimed that the campaign against the LFC was more extensive. Gunmen have broken into the house of Abdel-Wahed Abdel-Aziz, an LFC member, and smashed windows and assaulted his wife and children. Abdel-Aziz has fled into Suleimaniya, a province in which the LFC is said to have trounced its opponents, including the PUK and the DPK. Said pointed out that the LFC offices in Dahuk were also attacked and that police refused to respond to calls for help from LFC members. Blaming Barzani for the attacks, Said called on the Higher Elections Commission, the Iraqi parliament, the UN, and Iraqi and world opinion to intervene to end the attacks. He added that the big win of LFC (30 seats so far) has shocked the two major Kurdish parties. He called for protection for the LFC, saying that it is a civilian movement without militia or government connections to protect it. Nawshirwan Mustafa called on his followers to remain calm and not answer the provocations. The Tayfa Rustom of the Erbil Tukrmenleri List (Erbil Turkmen List, or ETL) told the Weekly that their observers know that the ETL won in Irbil, but irregularities and major fraud took place as soon as the deadline for voting was extended on Saturday. The observers say that the Barzani List would have to go into alliance with other lists to pass decisions and laws. ETL officials claim that violations and fraud has given Turkmen lists allied with the DPK the chance to control the Turkmen quota of five seats. ETL officials say that they sent a representative to Baghdad and that once the final results are declared, they would reveal the truth about what really happened. Similar claims are made by Yonadam Kena, representative of the Christians at the Iraqi parliament. Kena says that the authorities in Kurdistan are trying to give the pro-Barzani Christian parties a chance to control the parliamentary five-seat quota as well as the Armenian seat. This would give the Barzani alliance 11 extra seats, allowing Barzani to control the majority in the parliament of northern Iraq. Qader Aziz, leader of the Kurdish Toilers Party (Zahmati Kishan) says that violations have been committed. He claims that some voters cast more than one vote and that others whose names are not on the voters' list were allowed to vote. An eyewitness in Dahuk, speaking on condition of anonymity, says that the two major Kurdish parties encouraged irregularities in a one-hour extension of the voting deadline on Saturday. Thousands voted without showing proper IDs. In one case, a man led a group of voters into the polling station and claimed that everyone had rationing papers but forgot to bring them. They were allowed to vote. As the counting of votes in Kurdistan came to a close on Sunday, Kurdish sources said that Barzani has won the residency of the region of Kurdistan, defeating the four other candidates. But candidate Kamal Mirawdali is said to have come first in Al-Suleimaniya. Preliminary results indicate that the Kurdistan List (KL), which represents the two main parties, the DPK and the PUK, has won in a closely contested elections that were marred with accusations of fraud. The LFC is said to have won 52 per cent of the vote in Al-Suleimaniya, formerly a stronghold of Talabani, and 22 per cent in Irbil. The SRL, which includes four Islamic and leftist parties, is expected to win 16 seats, the same number it now controls, including 15 for the Islamists. Consequently, the opposition is expected to have at least 47 seats in the new parliament. This information has not been confirmed by the Higher Elections Commission. Sources at the DPK say that the KL has won 59 per cent of the votes in the three provinces of Kurdistan: Irbil, Al-Suleimaniya, and Dahuk. The same sources said that the LFC came second. If true, this means that the KL would control 53 or 55 seats plus the 11 seats given to the Turkmen and Christians who have traditionally supported Barzani. The turnout was 80 per cent out of a total of 116,000 voters. Army and police personnel as well as prisoners, hospital patients, and doctors were allowed to vote separately. Overall turnout was nearly 78 per cent of the 2.5 million registered voters of northern Iraq. Representatives of the parties cooperating with the Higher Elections Commission in counting say that the KL came out ahead in Irbil and Dahuk, traditionally the stronghold of the DPK. The LFC is in second place in Irbil and the SRL is second in Dahuk. The opposition has complained that some voters were allowed to cast their votes without showing proper identity cards. Some observers were prevented from entering the polling stations. And many have complained that voting continued past the deadline. The Higher Elections Commission said that Barzani broke a procedural rule by talking to journalists right after the voting was concluded. PUK and DPK officials have declined to comment on claims of irregularities. But political analysts say that the elections would change the political map of Kurdistan due to a stronger presence by the opposition in the parliament. Mounir Al-Kafili, president of the Kirkuk Provincial Council and member of the Iraqi Turkmen Front, told the Weekly that the two major Kurdish parties may try to incite fighting outside Kurdistan in order to divert attention from their areas and gain time to hold further negotiations with the smaller parties.
