Iraq’s Kurds threaten to boycott January elections, raising new concerns of vote delay

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Iraq’s Kurds threaten to boycott elections

SULAIMANIYAH, Iraq — Kurdish political leaders threatened Tuesday to boycott January’s national elections unless Kurdish areas receive more seats in parliament, throwing into doubt the vote which could determine how quickly U.S. troops can go home.

Just a week ago, legislators were celebrating the passage of a key election law needed to carry out the national polls. But the new Kurdish demands coupled with a veto threat earlier in the week by the country’s Sunni vice president could derail the vote.

The Kurds had originally voted in favor of the law last week when it passed parliament, but they say it was only over the weekend that they found out their provinces had received fewer seats than they believe they deserved.

Parliament was expanded from 275 to 323 seats to reflect population growth, but only three of the new seats were allocated to Kurdish provinces, giving them 38 total, according to the Independent High Electoral Commission’s Web site.

Other regions saw much larger growth. For example, Ninevah province which borders the Kurdish region and is considered one of the last hotbeds of the insurgency, grew from 19 seats to 31. Basra province in the south grew from 16 seats to 24.

The office of Kurdistan Regional President Massoud Barzani said the way seats are distributed after the election law’s passage is unfair to Kurds.

“Unless this seat allocation formula is reconsidered in a just manner, the people of (the) Kurdistan Region will be compelled to boycott the election,” a statement posted on Barzani’s Web site said.

Mahmoud Othman, a Kurdish member of Iraq’s national parliament, echoed Barzani’s demands and said the Kurds had been expecting about 17 additional seats.

“The main point is the allocation of seats,” Othman told The Associated Press. “If no changes are made on this matter then we will not participate in the elections.”

Three northern provinces make up the Kurdish autonomous region, and are represented by their own parliament as well as president.

While Kurds have fought bitter political battles among themselves in their autonomous region, they have generally presented a strongly united front on the national political scene.

The Kurdish demands follow Sunni Arab Vice President Tariq al-Hashemi’s threat on Sunday to veto the election bill unless voters outside Iraq are guaranteed more seats. Most Iraqis living abroad are believed to be Sunni.

The boycott and veto threats come after lawmakers haggled for weeks over the election legislation before passing it on Nov. 8, much to the relief of the United States and many Iraqi political leaders.

Washington has tied its withdrawal of all combat troops to the national vote. U.S. military officials have said they will begin to draw down forces about 60 days after the election, hoping for assurances by then that Iraq is on stable footing.

Under a plan by President Barack Obama, all U.S. combat personnel must be out of Iraq by the end of August 2010. The rest of the troops, such as trainers and support personnel, must leave by the end of 2011.

Lawmakers and members of Iraq’s electoral commission were meeting Tuesday with parliamentary leaders to try to hash out a solution to the vice president’s demands, commission member Qassim al-Aboudi said.

Associated Press writer Qassim Abdul-Zahra, Sameer N. Yacoub, Rebecca Santana and Ryan Lucas contributed to this report.