Tale of two cities: Vote lays bare political divisions

SULAIMANIYAH, Iraq: Some Kurdish leaders describe Monday’s referendum on independence as a historic chance for the ethnic group to shape its own destiny after decades of oppression. Yet there was little enthusiasm for voting in the city of Sulaimaniyah.

No long queues snaked around buildings as one might expect of a people who have dreamed of their own nation all their lives.

Only about 40 voters were casting their ballots at any one time at each polling station located at schools, and much of Sulaimaniyah was subdued.

The sharp contrast with celebrations in the other major Kurdish city of Irbil highlighted divisions between the main political parties, suggesting problems ahead for the administration of any future state.

In Sulaimaniyah, home of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), officials caution that the vote could invite trouble from Turkey and Iran, and a referendum should be held at a more appropriate time.

Those neighboring countries fear independence will encourage their own restive Kurdish populations to press for change. The Baghdad government says the vote is unconstitutional.

Turkey has always backed Masoud Barzani, the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) president and leader of the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP), despite his initial push for statehood.

Tehran supports Barzani’s rival, Jalal Talabani of the PUK. Barzani and Talabani fought on opposing sides in an Iraqi Kurdish civil war in the 1990s which saw Iranian, Iraqi and Turkish forces were drawn into the fighting.

Thousands of fighters and civilians were killed. Tensions are high between Kurdish fighters and Iranian-backed Shiite militias.

The KDP in Irbil argues that it is time for the Kurds to run their own affairs after many years of persecution at the hands of Saddam Hussein and others.

Some voters questioned the intentions of KDP leaders and wonder whether they have the resources and willpower to run an independent state.

“I don’t really think Barzani will help. We don’t have any freedom now and won’t have any. Only Barzani and the people around him and his relatives will have freedom and benefit from independence,” said housewife Zaina Jamal after voting.

The vote, expected to deliver a comfortable “yes” for independence, is not binding and is meant to give Barzani’s KDP a mandate to negotiate secession of the oil producing region with Baghdad and neighboring states.

There were few referendum banners in Sulaimaniyah urging people to vote.

“I say yes, yes, yes to a Kurdish state. I am from now on the son of a Kurdish state,” said Dirshad Ahmed, a writer.

Like others who voted, he preferred to enjoy the moment instead of asking tough questions about internal Kurdish divisions and hostility to the vote from regional powers and the Baghdad government.

Kurdistan has long been plagued by political disunity between the KDP and decadesold rival PUK. It was most recently exacerbated by the extension of Barzani’s term.