Kurdish opposition makes gains

SULAYMANIYAH, Iraq – The ruling parties of Iraq’s Kurdish autonomous region won a comfortable majority in the region’s parliament, unofficial results showed Sunday, but a strong performance by the opposition has already begun to rework the balance of power.

In an election Saturday that drew surprisingly high turnout – nearly 80 percent – voters chose a president and a 111-member parliament for the Kurdish region in northern Iraq, a land of stunning geography that enjoys a large degree of independence from Baghdad and has emerged as a success story in an otherwise turbulent country.

The ruling parties – Kurdish President Massoud Barzani’s Kurdistan Democratic Party and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, led by Iraqi President Jalal Talabani – ran a joint slate of candidates for parliament. Given their dominance here, with near-total sway over everything from patronage to policies with Baghdad, they were expected to win handily. But dissidents from Talabani’s party staged a spirited campaign and appeared to do unexpectedly well, particularly in Sulaymaniyah province, long considered Talabani’s stronghold.

Officials with the ruling parties said unofficial results showed their list with 62 to 65 percent of the vote. The opposition’s list, known as Change, took 23 to 24 percent, they said, and other parties won the rest. Other reports carried by Iraqi television stations put Change’s number a few percentage points higher. Preliminary results were not expected to be released in Baghdad until today or Tuesday.

The results could still shift markedly, and officials with Change suggested that the ruling parties may have committed fraud in Irbil and Dahuk, the two other Kurdish provinces. But even if the unofficial results prove accurate, the Change list will have done far better than the 15 seats that opposition and government officials said would have constituted a success. The outcome suggests there was a resounding protest vote against two parties that sometimes treat their dominance of Kurdish life as a battle-won right.

“It’s a healthy majority for us, but at the same time, we will have a very healthy opposition within the parliament,” said Qubad Talabani, the Iraqi president’s son and the Kurdish regional government’s representative to Washington.

Within the ruling parties, there was furious speculation over what Change’s new power in political life might mean for them. The two parties fought a civil war in the 1990s and, though reconciled and in a partnership, tensions still linger.

Leaders of Change relished the trouble they were making for the alliance between the two ruling parties, a partnership that they accuse of nepotism and corruption. “It’s an agreement for spoils,” said Muhammad Tofiq, a Change candidate and former lieutenant of Talabani’s who defected from his group last year.

“There’s no substance to the alliance except, ‘This is for you. This is for me.’ ”