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Bill Redraws Borders in Disputed Provinces
BAGHDAD, Iraq -- A bill drafted by Iraqi President Jalal Talabani that aims to redraw the borders of areas disputed between Kurds and Arabs is likely to face challenges in Parliament but could gain the support of a key Shia ally, Kurdish MPs say.
The bill, which was sent to Parliament in early Novemeber, redraws the boundaries of provinces that were changed by Saddam Hussein’s regime after his Baath party took power in 1968.
The Baath policy aimed to upset the demographics in several Iraqi provinces by redrawing boundaries and displacing Kurds and other ethnic and religious minorities from their communities while moving in Arabs.
Kurdish MPs in Iraqi Parliament believe the bill will remove one of the hurdles in implementing Article 140 of the Iraqi Constitution, which was designed to resolve disputes over territories in Diyala, Kirkuk and Nineveh province that are claimed by Baghdad and the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG).
Article 140 stipulates that the boundaries of those provinces are restored to Baghdad’s Arabization campaign that displaced thousands of Kurdish and Turkmen families and settled Arabs in their places.
Some Kurdish MPs, however, are concerned that the bill will endanger the status of some areas currently under the control of the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG).
Muayed Tayib, a spokesman for the Kurdistani Alliance in Iraqi Parliament, said the 53-page bill is being discussed by Parliament’s legal committee.
Some Arab MPs argue that bill is an attempt by the Kurds to gain from the changes they have proposed.
Ahmed Mesari, an MP from the Iraqiya bloc, called on Talabani, a Kurd, to withdraw the bill because “its timing is off as Iraq is in huge political crisis.”
A group of Iraqiya MPs, an alliance of mostly Sunni Arabs and secularists, have said the bill “shows Talabani’s clear bias toward ensuring further achievements for the Kurdistan Region.”
But Tayib from the Kurdistani Alliance said “MPs are saying things here and there, they are free to express their opinion, but as far as the official stance of the blocs is concerned, it isn’t clear yet who is for it and who is against it.”
Opposition to Talabani’s hasn’t come from just Arab and Turkmen MPs. Some Kurds have also voiced concerns especially as the bill may put some Kurdish areas under Baghdad’s control.
However, Sheikh Latif, an Iraqi MP from the opposition Kurdish Change Movement (Gorran) said the Kurdish fear is unfounded. Latif said that even if some KRG districts become part of neighboring provinces, they will be still under the KRG’s jurisdiction because the Iraqi constitution has already acknowledged that these areas are within the KRG’s borders.
The major question is whether the bill will gain support in Parliament.
Azad Abubakr, a Kurdish MP who sits on Parliament’s legal committee, said that besides the Kurdish lawmakers, the majority of MPs from the Shia-dominated National Alliance are also in favor of the bill. The National Alliance is the largest parliamentary bloc in Iraq with around 130 MPs in the 325-member body.
Many Shias also want the boundaries of those provinces redrawn given that Saddam Hussein’s Sunni-led regime made the changes to maximize the size of Sunni-dominated provinces in the central parts of the country.
Balad and Dujail in Baghdad province, for example, were put under Salahaddin province by the former regime. Salahaddin is Saddam’s birthplace.
A referendum was due to take place in 2007 for the people of Iraq’s disputed territories to decide the future of their provinces, but that deadline was never met. Talabani’s bill calls for a referendum once the border changes have taken place, but some people fear that a referendum may never happen.
However, Latif, the Gorran MP, described Talabni’s project as “ill-conceived” and ambiguous. The project could be summarized in two lines, said Latif: “All the laws and decrees issued by the former regime, and motivated politically, to change the demographic state of the administrative units, will be dissolved.”
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BAGHDAD, Iraq -- A bill drafted by Iraqi President Jalal Talabani that aims to redraw the borders of areas disputed between Kurds and Arabs is likely to face challenges in Parliament but could gain the support of a key Shia ally, Kurdish MPs say.
The bill, which was sent to Parliament in early Novemeber, redraws the boundaries of provinces that were changed by Saddam Hussein’s regime after his Baath party took power in 1968.
The Baath policy aimed to upset the demographics in several Iraqi provinces by redrawing boundaries and displacing Kurds and other ethnic and religious minorities from their communities while moving in Arabs.
Kurdish MPs in Iraqi Parliament believe the bill will remove one of the hurdles in implementing Article 140 of the Iraqi Constitution, which was designed to resolve disputes over territories in Diyala, Kirkuk and Nineveh province that are claimed by Baghdad and the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG).
Article 140 stipulates that the boundaries of those provinces are restored to Baghdad’s Arabization campaign that displaced thousands of Kurdish and Turkmen families and settled Arabs in their places.
Some Kurdish MPs, however, are concerned that the bill will endanger the status of some areas currently under the control of the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG).
Muayed Tayib, a spokesman for the Kurdistani Alliance in Iraqi Parliament, said the 53-page bill is being discussed by Parliament’s legal committee.
Some Arab MPs argue that bill is an attempt by the Kurds to gain from the changes they have proposed.
Ahmed Mesari, an MP from the Iraqiya bloc, called on Talabani, a Kurd, to withdraw the bill because “its timing is off as Iraq is in huge political crisis.”
A group of Iraqiya MPs, an alliance of mostly Sunni Arabs and secularists, have said the bill “shows Talabani’s clear bias toward ensuring further achievements for the Kurdistan Region.”
But Tayib from the Kurdistani Alliance said “MPs are saying things here and there, they are free to express their opinion, but as far as the official stance of the blocs is concerned, it isn’t clear yet who is for it and who is against it.”
Opposition to Talabani’s hasn’t come from just Arab and Turkmen MPs. Some Kurds have also voiced concerns especially as the bill may put some Kurdish areas under Baghdad’s control.
However, Sheikh Latif, an Iraqi MP from the opposition Kurdish Change Movement (Gorran) said the Kurdish fear is unfounded. Latif said that even if some KRG districts become part of neighboring provinces, they will be still under the KRG’s jurisdiction because the Iraqi constitution has already acknowledged that these areas are within the KRG’s borders.
The major question is whether the bill will gain support in Parliament.
Azad Abubakr, a Kurdish MP who sits on Parliament’s legal committee, said that besides the Kurdish lawmakers, the majority of MPs from the Shia-dominated National Alliance are also in favor of the bill. The National Alliance is the largest parliamentary bloc in Iraq with around 130 MPs in the 325-member body.
Many Shias also want the boundaries of those provinces redrawn given that Saddam Hussein’s Sunni-led regime made the changes to maximize the size of Sunni-dominated provinces in the central parts of the country.
Balad and Dujail in Baghdad province, for example, were put under Salahaddin province by the former regime. Salahaddin is Saddam’s birthplace.
A referendum was due to take place in 2007 for the people of Iraq’s disputed territories to decide the future of their provinces, but that deadline was never met. Talabani’s bill calls for a referendum once the border changes have taken place, but some people fear that a referendum may never happen.
However, Latif, the Gorran MP, described Talabni’s project as “ill-conceived” and ambiguous. The project could be summarized in two lines, said Latif: “All the laws and decrees issued by the former regime, and motivated politically, to change the demographic state of the administrative units, will be dissolved.”
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