Election Briefs

Rivals Draw Strength From Nineveh Results

   

By IWPR-trained reporters in Mosul (ICR No. 283, 9-Feb-09)

No one will celebrate publicly in Mosul because it could spark violent confrontation. Nonetheless, the diverse city's Sunni Arabs and its Kurds are both pleased with the election result for entirely different reasons.

The Sunnis are glad that the winning list that represents their interests: Hadba, is now the biggest single group, having won more than 40 per cent of the seats. The result means an end to years of Kurdish domination of the provincial council.

The Kurds are pleased because they managed to win more than 20 per cent of the vote – a respectable showing in this largely Sunni Arab province. Having been blamed for Mosul's many problems for the past few years, the Kurds will now have someone else to share the burden.

A local Kurdish businessman said the result was good for both sides. Now the Arabs can look after the Arabs, he said, and the Kurds can take care of the Kurds.

But the provincial council will have to address a host of problems – including chronic violence, poor services and unemployment – that affect all of Nineveh's groups.

Atheel al-Nujaifi, the leader of the Hadba alliance, is seen as an outsider in Sunni Arab politics – the wildcard candidate who won. His anti-Kurdish statements emboldened Arabs. They believe he will ensure Kurds never gain the upper hand again in Mosul where Arabs are the majority.

Not surprisingly, the Kurds are uneasy with Nujaifi, who is likely to be elected governor or provincial council chairman.

The Sunni Arab Iraqi Islamic Party only got 6.7 per cent of the vote even though they had expected to win the most seats. The party's leaders had been in power, and claim fraud prevented their supporters from voting.