Freies Kurdistan Buch

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polling process by party workers or polling agents;
(d) – the ink used to mark voters’ fingers was not indelible in every case and there were a
number of corroborated accounts of voters removing the ink after voting;
(e) – there was a substantial number of prospective voters who, despite queuing for many
hours, were unable to vote before the poll closed at midnight; this was particularly
the case at urban polling stations.
(f) – the possibility of substantial multiple voting as a result of (d) was greatly mitigated
by (e) and, if attempted at smaller village polling centres, organised groups of
outsiders would have been immediately noted and reported; I expressly asked all
available monitors about this problem but no monitor had reported any evidence of
organised multiple voting;
(g) – I was able to state that in my opinion, on the basis of the written monitoring reports,
plus face to face discussions with a number of monitors, and my own observations,
the election had been a full and free expression of the wishes of the Iraqi Kurdish
electorate.“
Ein anderer Wahlbeobachter, Martin Lunn von COMPROMISE (Committee for the Promotion of
International Settlements), ebenfalls aus Großbritannien, schließt seinen Bericht über diese
Wahlen mit folgenden Worten:
„The general feeling was that this election, arguably the first full and free election in the
Middle East, had been a huge success. Civil disturbances were rare, and there were no
deaths or riots on the day. Considering the communication problems and those caused by
queuing, this is almost miraculous. It was perhaps seen as an election for democracy
rather than for a particular party. It almost seemed as if the voters did not realise that
some parties would have to lose!“ 1
Trotz gelegentlicher Vorfälle von Täuschung oder anderer Vergehen ist diese Wahl ein
außerordentlich bedeutendes Ereignis für die Kurden bzw. die Bevölkerung Kurdistans gewesen.
Sie durften und konnten zum ersten Mal in ihrem Leben frei, demokratisch und gleichberechtigt
ihre Vertreter für das erste Parlament und die erste eigene Regierung wählen. Der Wahltag ist
wohl ein historischer Tag nicht nur in Kurdistan, sondern auch in der ganzen Region. Dazu
schreibt McDowall: „Its example was a symbolic threat not only to Saddam but to all un-elected
regimes in the region.” 2
1 ebd., S.14.
2 McDowall, 1997, S.381.
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