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Ruling parties keep power in Iraqi Kurdish elections
Saturday's presidential and parliamentary elections in the three northern Kurdish provinces were closely watched because the US military and others believe friction between the Kurds and the Arab-dominated central government poses the greatest threat to security in Iraq.
The two ruling parties and the opposition appealed to nationalist sentiment during the campaign, a move that some fear could worsen the tension with Baghdad, at a time when the US military is preparing to withdraw all its troops by the end of 2011. Iraqi Kurdish leader Massoud Barzani, who has been a consistent critic of the central government, won re-election for presidency Saturday with almost 70 percent of the vote, while the leading candidate from the opposition party, Kamal Mirawdeli, received 25 percent, said Iraq's election commission.
A coalition of the two ruling parties -- Barzani's Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) and Iraqi President Jalal Talabani's Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) -- received a little over 57 percent of the vote for the 111-seat parliament, while the opposition Gorran -- or Change -- party took about 23 percent, said the commission.
The ruling coalition's victory, while seen as reflecting a general desire among voters not to sacrifice the relative security of their region, was tempered by the opposition's significant gains. Before the election, the two ruling parties split the seats in parliament between them.
The Change party calls itself reformist and is among a group of new political forces nationwide that have been trying to break the hold of religious parties and other traditional political groups by tapping into voter frustrations.
"It is remarkable that the Change movement has garnered such success in such a short period of time -- only three months -- and received almost 24 seats, which is a big gain," said Sadad Mohammad, an Iraqi political analyst. "This is mainly due to the large groups of angry Kurds who made the time to vote for them."
The commission said 78 percent of 2.5 million eligible voters cast ballots. The high turnout appeared to reflect voter frustration with allegations of corruption within the ruling coalition, nepotism, media intimidation and heavy-handed behavior by private security details. Still, in the Kurdish city of Sulaimaniya, large celebrations were held in the streets by supporters of Barzani and Talabani, with hundreds of cars carrying people holding up party flags and pictures of the two leaders.
A spokesman for the Change party, Shaho Saeid, said it was too early to comment on the results, or how they would affect the balance of power.
The Kurds have been locked in bitter disagreement with Iraq's central government over control of oil and disputed territory in other parts of northern Iraq, particularly the city of Kirkuk. The region gained autonomy after rising up against former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein in 1991.
The tensions have stalled a national oil law considered vital to encouraging foreign investment. US officials have warned that Arab-Kurdish tensions could erupt into a new front in the Iraq conflict and jeopardize security gains elsewhere.
Barzani, after meeting with visiting US Defense Secretary Robert Gates, said Wednesday that he will continue to try to work out the region's differences with Baghdad.
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