By Taller Nadir and Zanies Nazi,The Institute for War & Peace Reporting

SULAIMANIYAH, Iraq – Kurdish politicians, keen to capitalize on their newly acquired political power, are outlining their demands in negotiations to establish a new government in Iraq.

The Kurdish Alliance List, made up of the two main Kurdish parties, was second in the Jan. 30 elections with almost 2.2 million votes, giving it 75 seats in the national assembly.

Because a two-thirds’ majority is required to make key decisions in the 275-member parliament, the Kurdish coalition is being courted by other political parties to form a political coalition.

So far, the Kurds appear to be driving a hard bargain.

While it appears unlikely they will get their wish of holding the presidency, some of their demands may prove to be more contentious.

Those demands include moving the border of Iraqi Kurdistan farther south to include the oil-rich city of Kirkuk and maintaining their own militia. They also want to increase their share of national budget expenditure, which currently stands at 17 percent.

“We will be receptive to the faction which is more responsive to our demands, and those demands should be included in the constitution,” said Mullah Bakhtiar, a member of the PUK political bureau.

The status of Kirkuk, which is also claimed by Arabs and Turkomans, is an extremely sensitive issue, largely because it is the home of Iraq’s northern oil fields. But the Kurds are unlikely to budge on their claim to the city.

Arabs and Turkomans are also worried that Kurds will dominate the newly elected local city council in Kirkuk.

“Kirkuk originally is not a Kurdish city,” said Mueen Ahmed Ali, a professor at the University of Baghdad’s College of Law. “If we give up Kirkuk, then the Kurds will be independent and have this oil wealth for themselves and deprive Iraq of it.”

It seems the Kurds’ desires for a federalist state may be shared by the United Iraqi Alliance, which would have more control over the oilfields in the Shiite-dominated south under such a system.

Iraqi Kurdistan, which includes the provinces of Dahuk, Arbil and Sulimaniyah, has been a semi-autonomous region since the 1991 Kurdish uprising.

“Federalism should be prevalent in all the corners of Iraq,” said Mofaq Rubai, a candidate of the United Iraqi Alliance. “Look at the experience of Kurdistan, which is enjoying the benefits of federalism.”

Although Kurdish politicians will face pressure from other political groups to make concessions during negotiations, their supporters will urge them not to give way, as they see the elections as a historic opportunity to make their voices heard.

“This time the Kurds will go to Baghdad with great power and they will get most of their demands,” said Fareed Asasard, head of the Kurdistan Journalists’ Union. “Iraq can’t be run without the Kurds, so making a coalition with any faction should be on the basis of agreement, not concession.”

Talar Nadir and Zaineb Naji are journalists in Sulaimaniyah who write for the Institute for War & Peace Reporting of London.

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