Kurds snub parliament vote on Iraqi election law

By QASSIM ABDUL-ZAHRA, Associated Press Writer

BAGHDAD – Kurdish lawmakers pushing for control of a northern oil-rich city boycotted a parliament session on Thursday that was to tackle a crucial election law needed for January's nationwide balloting, throwing into doubt the country's ability to pull off the upcoming elections on time.

The election law has been held up over one key issue — whether to use voter lists that favor the Kurds or the Arabs in the city of Kirkuk.

The city's Arab and Turkmen ethnic groups resent what they perceive as Kurdish efforts to take over Kirkuk, which Kurds see as historically theirs and even describe it as their "Jerusalem."

Next to Sunni-Shiite tensions in Iraq, the issue of Kirkuk and Kurdish-Arab disputes has become a key flashpoint in this fragile nation. A political deadlock now could delay the elections and open the way for new violence and instability.

"Some Arab lawmakers are insisting on making obstacles to reaching a solution, and we hold them responsible," said Kurdish lawmaker, Khalid Shawani. "We refuse any solution if it is not according to the constitution."

The dispute in Kirkuk, which is claimed by Kurds, Arabs and Turkomen, is about whether all the people now living there should be allowed to vote in the elections in January.

During the Saddam era, tens of thousands of Kurds were displaced under a forced plan to make Kirkuk predominantly Arab. Since the 2003 U.S.-led invasion of Iraq, many of these Kurds have returned. Now other groups claim there are more Kurds than before — which could sway the vote in their favor and bring Kirkuk and its oil fully under Kurdish control.

Arabs favor a plan that would use the 2004 voter registry for Kirkuk, likely meaning Arab voters would be much more represented than Kurds. The Kurds favor a proposal by the United Nations that would use voter records from 2009, but only for a four-year period till the Kirkuk issue can be further clarified.

The Kurds, angry that the 2004 suggestion was even on the table on Thursday in parliament, boycotted the session, leaving the house without enough lawmakers for a quorum. The parliament is to convene again Saturday.

"Time is running out," warned the head of the Independent High Electoral Commission, Faraj al-Haidari. "We are almost paralyzed because there is no law approved yet."

Observers worry that if the election law is not passed in a reasonable amount of time, it would be impossible for election officials to prepare the ballots and carry out other technical issues needed to have the vote, which in turn would have to be delayed.

"Sticking to the election date is very important and for that (to happen) time is getting critical," said Said Arikat, a spokesman for the U.N. mission in Iraq.

U.S. Ambassador Christopher Hill and General Ray Odierno, the senior U.S. military commander in Iraq, jointly urged Iraqi politicians to deal with the election matter quickly.

"The future of Iraq depends on the Iraqi leadership and people," their statement said. "We urge Iraq's political leaders to work out their differences and take swift action to do what is in the best interest of the Iraqi people so they may exercise their democratic rights on January 16, 2010."