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 |  Subject: Iraqis look to Saleh to resolve Erbil-Baghdad crisis  Sat Nov 07, 2009 7:27 am | |
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Saturday, 07 November 2009, 11:41 EST
Iraqis look to Saleh to resolve Erbil-Baghdad crisisThe Kurdish Globe 30 minutes agoSaleh can become a strong bridge between Kurdistan and Baghdad.Iraqi leaders are holding out hope that the new Prime Minister of the Kurdistan Region, Dr. Barham Saleh, who was sworn into his post on October 28, will be able to resolve the ongoing problems between the Kurdistan Region and Baghdad.
Relations between the two sides have deteriorated rapidly because of tensions over the status of disputed areas, oil contracts signed by the Kurdistan Region oil contracts and the Peshmerga army.
Saleh, who was until recently one of Iraq's two deputy prime ministers, has long been regarded by fellow Iraqi politicians and Western diplomats as one of the most progressive and professional members of the Baghdad government. Now, on the back of his long experience in Kurdish and Iraqi politics, observers hope that Saleh will be able to bridge the widening gap between Baghdad and Erbil.
"Your role as the new Prime Minister of the Kurdistan Region will increase the brotherly relations between Kurds and Arabs and it will increase our national unity," said Iraqi Prime Minister, Nouri al-Maliki in a congratulation letter to Saleh.
The Prime Minister noted that during the last three years as deputy Prime Minister Saleh had been a great support of his government and said he looked forward to renewed cooperation with the Kurdish Region under his leadership.
"I hope your new government promises a new phase in cooperation and understanding between the central government and the Kurdistan Regional government," said the Prime Minister.
During his inauguration Saleh stressed Kurdish friendship with Arab and other national communities and reiterated the centrality of the Iraqi constitution.
"All outstanding issues with Baghdad can be solved through the Iraqi constitution, which the majority of Iraqi people have voted for," said Saleh. "The enemy of Kurds are not Arabs and the enemy of Arabs are not Kurds. In fact the enemy of both Kurds and Arabs are the extremists who are destroying Iraqi security."
Saleh has long been a central fixture in Kurdish and Iraqi politics, gaining experience and contacts in Kurdistan, Bagdad and internationally, and observers now hope that he can use his background to settle the increasingly acrimonious relationship between Baghdad and Erbil.
Born in 1960, Saleh joined the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan in 1976 and lived in London during the 1980s as the party's Chief of Relations. Following the 1991 Kurdish uprising and the establishment of an autonomous Kurdish zone he was elected to the PUK leadership and appointed as the party's first representative in Washington. Subsequently he returned to the Kurdistan Region in 2001 and served as Prime Minister of the Kurdistan Region's Suleimaniya administration.
Saleh joined Iraq's first post-war governments, first as Deputy Prime Minister in the Interim Iraqi Government, then as Minister of Planning in the Transitional Government in 2005. Most recently Saleh was Iraq's deputy Prime Minister.
In July 2009 Saleh led the Kurdistan List to victory in the Kurdistan parliamentary elections, paving the way for him to become regional Prime Minister.
With this broad-ranging experience and his understanding of the perspective in both Erbil and Baghdad, there is optimism that Saleh may now be able to settle the ongoing tensions between the two sides.
It is a conflict that that many people fear could push the country towards a new civil war. In recent weeks the battle over the status of Kirkuk has intensified as parliament has sought to ratify a new election law making the need for reconciliation ever more urgent.
At the heart of the conflict is the Kurdish desire for a decentralized and federal Iraq giving the region the power to make its own decisions. Many Arab leaders in Baghdad, however, including Prime Minister al-Maliki, want a strong and centralized Iraq. Battles over the status of disputed areas, oil contracts and the Peshmerga army all represent a battle over central and regional authority.
The Kurds claim that they are ready to defer to the constitution which they say guarantees a decentralized system and federalism for Kurdistan.
With neither side willing to compromise on their positions, the last twelve months have seen a steady deterioration of relations.
Saleh has now been thrust into the limelight at a last hope for peace.
Ex-Iraqi Prime Minister, Iyad Allawi, who has called for urgent dialogue between the Kurdistan region and Baghdad, says that Saleh can "become a strong bridge between Kurdistan and Baghdad to improve relations."
Yet even as there is much renewed optimism associated with the new Kurdish leadership, other observers warn that it is unlikely to signal a changing Kurdish position. As a long-standing PUK leader, Saleh, is likely to hold fast to the principles of autonomy and Kurdish authority over the disputed areas that lie at the heart of the crisis.
Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) political analyst, Jawad Qadir, told Niqash that it does not matter who is Prime Minister because the problems are related to the political identity of the Kurdistan Region.
"Whoever comes to power, the policy of Kurdistan region regarding federalism, article 140, oil and the Peshmerga will not change," he said. http://www.kurdishglobe.net/displayArticle.jsp?id=A7563FAFDF96944E2C6F6C6243E67F20 |
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