Reading President Barzani Part III
Kurdishaspect.com - By Dr Kamal Mirawdeli
Part 111: The President and the People
This part is also based on President Barzani’s speech on the occasion of the graduation of what he has described as the 16th course [of KDP cadres]. The full text of his speech was published in his party's daily paper Khabat on 17 February 2008. I have literally translated the words to ensure accuracy. The text of Barzani's speech put between inverted commas "_____________". My analytical comments follow the texts
Part 111: The President and the People
In Kurdistan region there is nothing that can be described as people’s discourse or human rights discourse. It is seldom to hear from so-called Kurdish leaders any statement talking about people: real people, men, women, the elderly, young people, children, families of anfal, victims of chemical attacks, displaced people, villagers, etc, what they need, how their needs could be best identified and met, how to make them control and determine their own lives, what opportunities for education, employment, health service, training, empowerment and confidence-building in themselves and their future are given to them. The daily deaths of tens of people for different reasons from women killing to suicides, diseases, traffic accidents, snake biting, etc never feature in any speech, statement and plan by anyone even the so-called parliament and MPs.
Masud Barzani, as we have seen, always shows that he bases his authority on his father’s tradition. But Mustafa Barzani never accepted his own glorification and putting party before and above people. In fact he never believed in a political party being able to represent and serve people. For him, neither homeland nor people were equal to a political party or even dependent on the struggle of a political party. I never heard him ever saying : ‘Our party’. Therefore he always reached out to people beyond political parties and made use of Kurdish talents and figures outside KDP. The only definition he used for himself was ‘the servant of people’. This is a description we never hear from his son Ma’sud Barzani or his grandson Nechirvan Barzani or from any of PUK officials including Jalal Talabani. The word party has replaced the word people and even the words homeland and society. And party is by definition a group of people working for their own often selfish interests. Knowing how selfish personal interest can work negatively in a society with no tradition of law and civil institutions, Mustafa Barzani is well known to have described party officials as “thieves and pimps” protesting that he had never accepted to be “the president of thieves and pimps.” Unfortunately most people now believe that his description, which was criticized then as feudal and backward thinking, seems to be very near the point now. People expected from Masud Barzani, especially after his election as president, if he were sincere in following the positive aspects of his father’s tradition, to distance himself as far as he could from his party and make himself as close as he could to people.
The only thing that has recently bothered the leaderships of KDP and PUK about people is not as I said daily deaths and disappearance of even the concept of humanity and human responsibility, kindness and love for each other under their primitive party system that has led to dangerous retardation of Kurdish culture and society. What has bothered them is that people can use language and speak, they express their resentment, and anger and frustration in words and sometimes some journalists report these words. In fact the only outlet left for people to breathe is to speak to each other or to express through media the depth of their pain, suffering and strangulation in the closed tightly-controlled Ba’thist-style system that has left no space for free breathing outside primitive fascist-oriented party control.
Political observers and journalists in Kurdistan believe that a main element of the so-called strategic accord between KDP and PUK is their determination to curb free speech and stop the stream of popular criticisms against their officials. In fact the title ‘official’ in Kurdish street has become almost synonymous with the words: thief, robber, mafia, pimp, adulterer, moral and financial corruption, nepotism, cronyism, secrecy and secret deals, illegitimate accumulation of wealth, factionalism, regionalism, greed, selfishness, etc The absence of any constitution, law, system of accountability or formal regulation to make any official accountable for any improper conduct and criminal offence, has in fact turned Kurdistan into a jungle of corruption where any party official can get away with any unlawful conduct. In fact there is no definition of what is lawful and what is not as there is no separation of party control from government and there are no institutions of civil society outside direct or indirect party control. Because the parties illegally control finances and economy they control the entire society and life of people. Therefore the emergence of any institutions with their own objective internal systems regulated by law has become impossible. In the whole 17 years of KDP/PUK rule no party or government official has ever been brought to account for any wrong doing. Rather than passing laws to establish justice and equality, free organisation, equal opportunity for all citizens, prevention of physical and sexual abuse of women, and ensuring transparency and freedom of information, KDP and PUK leaderships wanted to pass a draft Journalism Law focusing mainly on issue of libel and publishing unsubstantiated information. The main factor behind this law was to stop the reflection of the stream of people’s contempt of officials in the media. And they are worried about this solely because international media might pick up some of these criticisms and cause some embarrassment. Otherwise tons of words cannot affect any official or his secured interests as long as he belongs to one of the two dominant parties.
There are hundreds of articles, appeals, complaints, criticisms published in different newspapers. Just today (27 June 2007) a lawyer has written an article in Awene entitled: “Mr President, are we citizens or a cattle? “, in which he explains the disappearance of identity of human being for Kurdish citizens. He writes: “Where does all ingratitude and complacency of the leaders come from? Why should a citizen who has not been given the minimum reward [for their support to the parties], be insulted on top of this? His house is still in ruins, the bodies of his [genocide] victims have not returned, his fields are still saturated with mines, he spends one night without electricity the next night without water, his children had become victims of fratricide of the innocent leadership families of the country, yet, in spite of all these the citizens are insulted. Why? Where does all this insult by the leaders to people come from? What power is there behind you that has made you so unconcerned about people? What power can replace the people for you? The US or the countless capital you have accumulated? Or the oil contracts that except you and your parties no one knows anything about? ” ( Article by lawyer Jamal Halabjeyi, Awene, 27 June 2008)
It is unfortunate that after three years of his presidency, Mas’ud Barzani has not only failed to reform this hellish situation, but he has also failed to produce even one single idea to deal with this dangerous deterioration of moral and civil standards in Kurdish society. He has failed even to recognize that there is any problem at all and to reform his own way of thinking and conduct. Behind this complacency are some dangerous strands of thinking: that he is entitled by right of birth to control Kurdish society the way he likes and that he has reached his ambition of power and this can only last for ever irrespective of what he does and says, and that his party is the sole vehicle that will guarantee the continuation of his dynastic power. These strands of thinking are reflected in his speech to his party cadres.
Let us read and analyse the rest of Barzani’s speech (continued from part 11):
Heavy task facing KDP cadres [Original heading]
[Barzani quoted:]” Because of this [KDP being the sole party of Kurdish unity], you are facing a heavy task. The conspiracies of our enemies against you are greater. The mistakes you do are more visible and effective than others. Your good deeds too are greater and more useful for Kurdish nation. Therefore your responsibilities are greater. You must know this very well. It is the same in the entire world, everything is subject to change.”
Comment and analysis:
Thus spoke the President of Kurdistan! In this statement, Barzani separates his party from the rest of people, creates a big we/they dichotomy not only between KDP and those he calls enemies and conspirators but the whole Kurdish nation. In his view, the enemies of Kurdistan largely target KDP. The great tasks of the nation are tasks of KDP cadres, their mistakes leave greater damage, their good deeds give greatest benefit. Only KDP has represented the unity of Kurds and their struggle.
It was understandable if the President made this speech to his parliamentary party (KDP yellow list in Kurdistan ‘parliament.). Then as supposedly elected members, it would have been logical for Barzani to advise them and appreciate their legitimate role as representing people. It would have been also tolerable to some extent if his party had any democratic credentials whatsoever or if it was true that this party has represented or protected Kurdish unity. Most of the history of his party is characterized by co-operation with the different occupiers of Kurdistan from the Shah of Iran, to Khomaini, to Saddam to Turkish generals against other Kurdish political parties in all parts of Kurdistan and against the liberation and development project of the Kurdish nation. The destructive criminal PUK/KDP fratricide between 1994-1997, whose consequences are still greatly harming Kurdish society, had no moral, logical, or political justification apart from the selfishness and dictatorial tendency of their leaders or direct pre-paid service to the enemies of Kurdistan.
The unity of Kurdish home [original Khabat title]
[Barzani quoted:] “Now the most important thing is to protect the unity of Kurdish home. The proviso of this is to strengthen the relations between KDP and PUK and not let enemies disturb this unity. We must not allow this relationship to go wrong for any reason and not let conflict between KDP and PUK might, God forbid, lead to sad events. We as KDP do not consider anything for this as a great concession (or surrender). Surrender is when someone surrenders to enemies. I want you to protect current unity. Even if someone [from PUK] made a mistake, you should not react. You must continue on this path. I consider it my sacred duty that the Kurds would not fight each other again. Kurds must not fight Kurds. This must be one of our unchanging principles.” [Unquote]
Comment and analysis
- Even if it is just at the level of intention and personal position that Barzani promises to keep Kurdish unity and not to allow inter-Kurd fighting, this must be appreciated. Our people have been so much immersed in the negatives of past and present, we need good intentions. But intentions and words are not enough, have never been enough. Even if the Arab saying “actions are defined by intentions’ has some truth in it, in real life and in politics actions are measured by results. It is not what you intend and say that is ultimately important but what you achieve and the quality, durability, and strategic effectiveness and impact of what you have achieved. Actions are defined by their results.
- The problem is that the discourse of unity is much more complex than a belief, a promise or a sentiment expressed in a party speech.
- First, Barzani himself must remember or forgive us if we remember that he often made such statements and promises before, sometimes alone, sometimes jointly with Talabani, only to be followed by bloody fighting causing hundreds of deaths. There is no reason that this promise would be different apart from the historical context in which it is made. On the one hand, there are a lot of interests, billions of dollars, that can only be maintained by unity ‘between PUK and KDP’, so definitely he has an immediate immense interest in keeping this unity. Second, this unity is just façade of a top-level arrangement that have worked largely to strengthen KDP at the expense of PUK as the former represented by Barzani family control most important posts, powers and interests in the region: a good reason for Barzani to appreciate the current ‘unity’ between KDP and PUK.
- Externally, keeping this bipartisan unity brings to the two parties, say leaderships, lots of interests from Baghdad too. More money, more posts, positions, and privileges for family, friends and cronies. Then there are Americans and others whose strategy entails a united Kurdish front at least to the extent that it can keep a Kurdish role in Iraq congruent with the interests of the US irrespective of how the Kurdish leadership treats its own people, in the same way that the US did not give a damn how Saddam treated ‘ his own Kurdish people’ even when he experimented with chemical weapons. All these conditions of unity have created for Barzani and Talabani almost an absolute power in Kurdistan to control, use and abuse without any sort of accountability to anyone whatsoever: no constitution, no law, no parliament, no watchdogs, no external pressure, no international interest. Unfortunately, it is from this angle, that Barzani wants to protect this unity to the extent of advising his party apparatchik not to react even if the other side makes mistakes!
What is unity?
Both PUK and KDP try hard to impose the hypothesis that Kurdish unity means the unity of these two parties and all successes and achievements come from this unity. If they fight, then all Kurds should be part of this catastrophic fighting. If they unite then all the Kurds should be happy about this unity and protect it. But this concept of identification the unity and destiny of the Kurdish people with the whims, interests and decisions of these two leaderships is a very dangerous one that, as we have explained in the introduction, has created a Ba’th-style totalitarian party-controlled society. But let us ask even this bipartisan unity that Barzani claims, praises and protects, real? Are the two parties really united? If they are, what is this unity and how does it work? For whose interests?
Unfortunately the unity of the two parties is only a sham. It is catastrophic that this illusion of unity is promoted at the level of the two top leaders of the two parties, namely Barzani and Talabani as they did few weeks ago in the 33rd anniversary of PUK foundation in Sulaymaniyah and as Barzani does in this speech. Every Kurd knows that it is not a true and honest statement to claim that these two parties are united unless they mean by this they are not actually killing Kurds in a fratricide war. There are still two tightly controlled regions exclusive to each party. Still Kurdish nation in south Kurdistan is criminally divided over party lines. Still their popular organisations pursue exclusive regional party agendas bereft of any national content or progressive inclusive social agenda. Most importantly still the three most important ministries of finance, peshmarga and interior are not reunified and it seems that they will never be. For the last five years the spokesperson of Nechirvan Barzani ‘s government has been claiming that everything has been agreed for their unification but they need time to work out some final technical problems! Then where this unity is most needed for achieving national aims it does not exist at all. The two parties are engaged in bitter shameless rivalry in Kirkuk resorting to the same debased methods and standards of behavior that caused 1994 civil war. The issue of Kirkuk has been routinely sacrificed for temporary petty party gains. It is only the existence of coalition forces and their wider selfish interests that have prevented violent flashpoints between them in Kirkuk and Garmiyan.
Everyone knows that the so-called unity of the two parties is no more than an external arrangement to cover up and mange the infamous 50.50 division of power, wealth and the fortunes and identity of the Kurdish nation.
What is unity for?
Let us still agree with President Barzani that there is unity between the two parties? What is this unity for? What has it achieved? Has it promoted democracy? Has it saved women from killing and given them equal rights? Has it created an active parliament respected at home and abroad? Has it reformed Kurdish politics and stopped corruption? Has it restored Kirkuk to us? Has it improved the fortunes of children, women, young people, and the families of anfal? Has it rebuilt the infrastructure of Kurdistan and developed a modern education and employment system? Has it developed agricultural and economic infrastructure of Kurdistan region? Are we becoming an industrialized nation? Do we have five-year and ten-year national development plans? Have we with billions of dollars to invest, ensured a bright future for our young people that enhances their sense of affiliation and commitment and prevent them from mass migration to exile abroad or from committing suicide at home? Are people happier? Are more young men and women getting married and building families? Does the majority of people own their home and have good jobs to sustain the family life?
In fact, Barzani’s call for bipartisan unity and its protection has a sinister side. For him protection of unity is “not allowing the sad events of the past’, that is criminal fratricide, to be repeated and this can be done if his party generals refrain from reacting to PUK mistakes or violations of ‘strategic accord’. In other words, he frightens Kurdish society that if everyone does not accept the current arrangements for the division of power and wealth between the families of the two parties, then the alternative is internal war? Either you die and suffer in our fight for power and wealth or you accept our monopolization of power and wealth. This is the deep structure of Barzani’s message.
Rule of law
In this speech and his other speeches and actions Barzani entirely forgets or ignores that he is the formal president of a region of 4 million people and thus a symbol for 40 million Kurds. He forgets that KDP and PUK are also part of this region and society and if a KDP or a PUK person or official makes a mistake or commits an offence then like anyone else in the region they must dealt with by law, not by leaving it to their personal goodwill or discretion whether they react or not. They should react but lawfully, by having recourse to the rule of law rather than by reaching out to their guns as they were doing in the past or by engaging in unlawful criminal rivalry for possession of property, wealth, companies, contracts, posts, positions and prostitutes as they have been doing in the last five years and they have been fiercely engaged in Kirkuk and Garmiyan.
Unity of power and people
Barzani speaks as if KDP and PUK are still in mountains where a dispute over a turf might have triggered a major battle. He forgets that the two parties have been in power for 17 years and they have something called government and something else called parliament and they also often talk about other things like institutions and civil society and even democratic experience!! It is strange that for 17 years this democracy is still an experience and still an infantile one!
Actually unity or non-unity between the parties is not the concern of our people and should not be. After 17 years of power, there should have been by now well-established solid national institutions that work independent from party conflicts and are not controlled by them. Instead even party differences and conflicts are debated and solved via the region’s democratic structures and legal and constitutional mechanisms. We hoped by now Kurdistan parliament would be a genuine internationally-recognised and respected effective democratic institution where all the issues that concern the nation are debated and solved creating a culture of free debate, dialogue and peaceful democratic interaction putting people before the parties and personalities. WE hoped that the President would go to this parliament once every six months to present his programme and account for his and his government’s performance for the previous six months.
It is sad that Barzani is still thinking as a mountain party warlord and thus still sees the unity, future, problems and solutions of Kurdish nation from the viewpoint of rivalry/conflict between his party and PUK. He thinks the unity that our people wants is that secretive ‘strategic’ unity maintained at the expense of our national dignity and destiny and promoted as the sole national goal by the two familial leaderships of the two parties.
The unity that the President must seek, support and promote is the unity between power and people, between Kurdistan Region Government (KRG) and citizens. It is this distance, this gap, this alienation between people and power, between KRG and citizens that has created the abyss afflicting our society. It is the KRG that through its progressive democratic legislation, establishing the rule of law, long-term strategic panning and extensive developmental plans and service programmes to transform Kurdistan into a modern democratic economically self-sufficient society, that should become the model, structure, mechanism and guarantee of Kurdish unity.
The KDP/PUK party unity has not been and is not a blessing to our people. In fact the situation in their respective controlled regions was much better when they had two separate rival administrations. At least then there was some competition and there was talk about projects for people. And there was more space for dialogue, criticism, and freedom of speech. Now the parties Mongols have overnight , through theft and illegitimate appropriation, become millionaire capitalists without any background and experience in running any business or office apart from primitive forms of messy mountain inter-fighting or perhaps secretly serving Iranian or Saddam’s intelligent services. The result is a suicidal society lacking any concept of humanity, development and justice. KDP/PUK secretive strategic alliance aims at perpetuating this dangerous status quo. And this is the unity that the President so dearly wants to protect.
[To be continued]
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June 29, 2008
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