Iraq could soon have its first Kurdish president, following behind the scenes talks between leading Shi’ite and Iraqi government figures and Kurdish officials.
Though Kurds stress any deal will have to wait until the election results are known, the two main Kurdish leaders, Massoud Barzani and Jalal Talabani, said on Sunday that they would demand one of the two top offices of state, prime minister or president.
With the prime minister’s position likely to be filled by either the incumbent Ayad Allawi, or by an as yet unknown candidate from the Shi’ite list, the less powerful presidency could go to Talabani, veteran leader of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, who heads the joint Kurdish list for the national assembly. The post of speaker of the transitional assembly would go to a Sunni Arab, perhaps Adnan Pachachi.
”We have received some proposals from Shia politicians and others,” said Talabani. ”In return for our backing the idea of the prime minister being a Shia, they are saying they will back a Kurd as president. But we are waiting to see who will be the prime minister, what will his policies be, and how he will look at the Kurdish interests.”
Talabani said a Kurdish president ”could help to unite the nation and play an important role overseeing the drafting of the new constitution and bringing the Sunni Arabs into the political process”. About 95% of Iraq’s 4-5 million Kurds are Sunni Muslim.
He added: ”The main principles we want to see enshrined are democracy, a proper federal system, human rights, women’s rights, and the appropriate distance between state and religion.”
Kurdish leaders were angered last summer when the prime ministership and the presidency went to a Shia Arab and a Sunni Arab.
Barzani, who leads the rival Kurdistan Democratic Party, said on Sunday: ”I think this time the Kurds must get one of these posts.”
Talabani and Barzani run rival administrations in the Kurdish self-rule area in the north. They have put aside past bitterness to create a joint ticket — which also includes Arab, Turkomen and Christian candidates — for both the national elections and the vote for the Kurdish regional parliament. The KDP and the PUK will compete with each other only in the provincial elections. Kurds make up about 20% of Iraq’s population and were expected to vote in large numbers. Analysts say the Kurdish list could gain anything from 50-80 seats in the 275-seat transitional assembly and is likely to hold the balance of power.
The main task of the new Parliament will be to form a new government and draft a permanent Constitution. A referendum on the Constitution and second general election are then due to be held by the end of the year.
Under a controversial clause in the interim Constitution, the new Constitution could be rejected if two-thirds of the electorate vote against it in three of Iraq’s 18 provinces. The Kurdistan region has three provinces within its borders. – Guardian Unlimited Â