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DEMOCRACY PROCESS AND PROBLEMS IN IRAQI KURDISTAN ORSAM between legislative and executive powers. 19 And this is considered as the most typical characteristics of the parliamentary system. 20 Here, it is necessary to mention the political party experience in the region in order to show KRG’s administrative experience. Because it is quite hard to consider administrative institutions separately from the political parties in the region, because the aforesaid institutions were extremely affected by the relationship among political parties, especially by the relations between KDP and PUK. 21 As a matter of fact, the conflicts, wars and alliances between the aforesaid political parties directly affected the parliament and the regional government. 1.2. Position of KDP and PUK in Political System of Iraqi Kurdistan The political parties in KRG started to appear in parallel with the increasing number of groups taking part in the armed struggle against the former regime. Those political parties, except for the Islamic Movement 22 , were gathered under the umbrella of the KRG front. 23 However, the aforesaid parties’ role became weaker as they did not have seat within the KRG National Council and no other parties except for KDP and PUK could not enter the council due to the fact that other political parties could not pass the 7-percent threshold 24 . This situation led two major parties KDP and PUK to prevail in the political platform for a long time. On 22 May 1992, KDP and PUK agreed on sharing all authorities based on 50-50 sharing all authorities within the government and National Council as well as the seats within the National Council. However, five seats which had been allocated for Christians in the Assembly were excluded, and other parties which lost the elections were consoled 25 with some ministries. 26 The first meeting of the Parliament of the Region was held in Erbil on 4 June 1992. In the aforesaid meeting, Jawhar Namiq Salim from KDP was elected as the president of the Kurdistan National Assembly, and Muhammad Tawfiq Rahim from PUK was elected as the vice-president of the Assembly. Also, Dr. Ruz Nouri Shavis from KDP was assigned as deputy prime minister when the first government in Kurdistan Region was formed by the leadership of Dr. Fuat Masum from PUK on 4 July 1992. 27 Meanwhile, the Assyrian Democratic Movement, Communist Party, Labour Party and Union Party gained a ministry each. 28 On the other hand, the Islamic Movement refused to enter in government and stayed out of the regional government and National Assembly. 29 Formation of the regional government is considered as a historical step for Kurds in general, and for Iraqi Kurds in particular. Because Kurds had the opportunity to form a government only twice in history. The first one is the government that was formed by Sheikh Mahmoud in 1922, and subverted as a result of the British attack within less than a year. The second experience, on the other hand, took place in 1946 during the Kadi Muhammad period. However, this government could not last even a year either, and was subverted as a result of Iranian army’s attack on Mahabad which was the capital of the Kurdish Republic. 30 Thus, the Kurdistan Regional Government achieved to fill the political administrative and economic gap that emerged as result of the withdrawal of former political regime in Iraq from Kurdish regions. The government created an umbrella for volunteer schools, Seladdin University in Erbil, hospital and similar public institutions and organizations. Likewise, other governments that were formed following this government established political, financial and administrative institutions and organizations, and provided services. ORSAM Report No: 151, April 2013 11
ORSAM CENTER FOR MIDDLE EASTERN STRATEGIC STUDIES As mentioned above, KDP and PUK reached an agreement to 50-50 share the power in the region. This sharing spread into ministries and institutions. Because the government was double-headed which was composed of Prime Minister and Deputy Prime Minister. It was also the same for ministries. Deputy minister had the same administrative, financial and legal rights with minister. This situation paralyzed the decision-making mechanism within the government and ministries, and also led to a major administrative setback. 31 The fifty-fifty sharing system led to a total split between the two parties in the con<strong>text</strong> of government and administration. This situation led to both a total split of the region, and also civil wars to be mentioned in the forthcoming part of the study. This was an unprecedented experience and led to the following consequences: 32 a– While the setback of the formation of a united administration in the region led each ministries to split into two de facto ministries, it also led to a split among employees under two major parties. b– In addition to the planning for the future while the citizens encountered setbacks, there was also a setback in terms of the financial development. c– While this situation led to a rupture among the people and in the country, loyalty to country turned into loyalty to the party. d– As it had already been planned, some setbacks took place in holding elections. e–As a result, this experience led to a strong polarization in the region. And thus, the region was dragged into a civil war. 33 In addition to financial conflicts 34 caused by double-headed government and administration, some other factors led Kurds in Iraq to be dragged into a civil war. Those reasons might be listed as follows: - Presence of militia forces affiliated to political parties 35 , - Same old conflicts and disputes between KDP and the Leader of KDP Massoud Barzani, and PUK and Secretary General of PUK Jalal Talabani 36 , - Destructive role of the former Iraqi regime 37 , - Deepening internal conflicts caused by direct of indirect interventions of neighboring countries, of Iran and Turkey 38 in particular. Those factors caused to the outbreak of war between KDP and PUK and the allies that are members of other Kurdish parties 39 . The first sparkle took place in Kaladize village on the borderline under the administration of Sulaymaniya. The dispute on property of various lands in this city led to the outbreak of conflict between supporters and members of the two parties (KDP and PUK) on 2 May 1994. The conflicts spread to Duhok, Sulaymaniya, Halabja and other areas before long. 40 The ongoing conflicts gave an opportunity for both the central Iraqi government in Baghdad and also neighboring countries to directly or indirectly intervene in the internal affairs of the region, and to help the warring factions. Such that, the conflict reached a point where Iraqi Republican Guards entered the territories of Erbil on 31 August 1996 at the request of KDP, and as a result, PUK was displaced from Erbil. 41 Afterwards, without loss of time, KDP relaunched National Assembly meetings of the Iraqi Kurdistan Region. Concordantly, the coalition government was formed under the leadership of Ruz Nuri Shawiz also with the participation of political parties such as; Iraqi Kurdistan Islamic Movement, Iraqi Kurdistan 12 ORSAM Report No: 151, April 2013
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