ERBIL — A committee formed by the Iraqi Independent High Electoral Commission in Kirkuk without any Kurdish representatives, is planning to ban the Kurdistan flag from being used during the election rallies in the disputed areas.
The committee is made up of Arab and Turkmen representatives to supervise the rallies ahead of the parliamentary elections on October 10.
BasNews has learned that the move is specifically targeting the candidates from the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP), who are widely using the Kurdistan flag in their rallies, a flag which is recognized by the Constitution of Iraq but seems unacceptable to the Arabs and Turkmens in the disputed territories of Kirkuk and Khanaqin.
Liza Falakaddin, a Kurdish lawmaker and member of the Kurdistan Parliament’s committee for the disputed areas, criticized the committee which has been formed under the supervision of the electoral commission and the United Nations, saying the all five members of the committee are Arabs or Turkmens without any Kurdish representation “while the Kurds are one of the main components of Kirkuk”.
“There are attempts to affect the Kurdish voice in Kirkuk. If the committee continues its works until the election day, there will be adverse impacts,” Falakaddin said.
“Excluding Kurds from the election procedures is against the Iraqi Constitution, so is the exclusion of the Christians, which casts doubts on the fairness of the entire process,” she added.
Najwa Hamid, a candidate from the KDP Kirkuk, however, said her rally will continue with the Kurdistan flag and she will not abide by any decision that is made to marginalize the Kurds and undermine “the Kurdish identity of Kirkuk”.
Jwan Mahmoud Ghafour, another KDP candidate in Khanaqin, also refused to abide by such decision. “I will not remove the flag from my posters even if it will cost me my life,” she said.
The Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) has two candidates in Kirkuk while it also competes with other factions in the Iraqi provinces of Diyala, Salahaddin, Baghdad, Anbar, and Karbala.