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WKI Condemns Iraq’s Parliament for
Undemocratic Tactics on Kirkuk
7.8.2008
WKI Press Release
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August
7, 2008
Washington, D.C., — The President of
Washington Kurdish Institute, Dr. Najmaldin Karim,
criticized the Iraqi Arab members of parliament, led
by Speaker Mashhadani for staging an underhanded
legislative coup with respect to the proposed law
governing the forthcoming the provincial council
elections. Last month, using unparliamentarily
procedure against the spirit and letter of the Iraq
constitution, Mashhadani and an ad hoc anti-Kurdish
clique railroaded a proposal for Kirkuk under which
an ethnic-based quota system would be imposed on the
citizens of the province. The resolution was
promptly vetoed by the Presidency Council.
Dr Karim said, “This episode is the latest in a
pattern of attempts by Arab groups to derail and
sabotage the constitutional obligation of Article
140 to democratically resolve the status and
boundaries of the disputed territories,www.ekurd.net
especially
that of Kirkuk. |
Dr. Najmaldin Karim,
Neurosurgeon, Falik & Karim, Greenbelt, Maryland,
and President, Washington Kurdish Institute (WKI),
Washington, D.C. |
Sadly, this is an
example of reversion to past policies of broken
agreements and betrayals from Baghdad since the
establishment of the Iraqi state, when an elite
minority, installed by British colonial power,
imposed a government by supremacy on the people of
Iraq.
‘A concerted effort like this one in Baghdad against
the Kurdish people is a clear indication that the
culture of racism and fascist mentality practiced
under the former Baathist regime is not quite
extinct. Arab chauvinists still cannot accept the
Kurdish people on an equal basis. They regress into
the view of Kurds as second class citizens at the
first opportunity.
‘The Iraqi Federal Government bears some
responsibility for this latest crisis. It has
procrastinated and failed to make concrete steps
toward the constitutional imperative to peacefully
and democratically resolve the Kirkuk issue. It has
pandered to the obstructionist tactics of Arab
chauvinists in their attempt to wriggle out of the
obligations enshrined in Article 140 of the
constitution. It has clearly demonstrated a
reluctance and inability to make any progress on
this critical issue.”
Dr. Karim concluded: “The problem of Kirkuk is not a
new one; it has been a main source of displacement
and strife for decades, almost since the beginning
of Iraq. Successive governments in Baghdad have
followed a pattern; they offer an agreement to the
Kurdish leaders to finally resolve the issue of
Kirkuk,www.ekurd.net
then they rescind it as soon as they are
strong enough to do so. If this pattern is repeated
by the Federal Government, as their current tactics
and neglect could foreshadow, then the Constitution
as a whole will become a meaningless document and
the absence of a federal state will follow.
Ultimately, it is the moral and constitutional
responsibility of the Iraq Government to address the
crimes of the past and follow through on its promise
to resolve the question democratically, through a
local referendum within the correct boundaries of
the province.”
Washington Kurdish Institute
611 4th Street, S.W.
Washington, D.C. 20024
202.484.0140 (Telephone)
E-mail: [email protected]
Website:
www.kurd.org
Copyright, respective author or news agency, WKI
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