Kurdish leader Barzani to head new regional government

[Vladimir]

Kurdish leader Massoud Barzani is to head an autonomous Kurdish region in South Kurdistan after a deal with his longtime rival, Iraq's new President Jalal Talabani, a Kurdish official said Sunday.

Source: KBU NEWS
Very democratic.. they make a deal and voila a new head of the Kurdish region.

[Evin]

Congrats on the new site guys, you're doing a great job getting the news from Kurdistan out there, wishing you every success

As for this story, what a surprise.... NOT

[Binyamin]

What do we want more! We just have to buy popcorn, sit and watch what will happen next. We are such a happy nation. There is always someone who does exactly what we always wanted. IS NOT IT SO!?

[Diri]

NO it is NOT so...

First of all - The KDP and PUK WON the elections in Kurdistan - ( and you critics - yes, maybe they forged the whole thing but we don't know that for sure!)

This would mean that the PEOPLE have vested their power in th two parties- SO IT IS ONLY RIGHT FOR THEM TO AGREE ON A PRESIDENT! YES I agree - their bickering SHOULD have been done in the Kurdish Parliament for ALL parts to have their say! But we know for a fact that MOST Kurdish Parliamentarians in Kurdistan Regional Parliament WOULD vote for Kaka Mesud Barzani as President!

So I don't get it - why do you say that it is not democratic? It's called "indirect democracy"... The people vote for a party and the party chooses a leader...

THIS is the system which is used in Norway - The Right Party won 33% of votes and made a coalition with The Developement Party which had 30% and also with The Christian Peoples Party which had 5% of the votes and voila they had 65% of the votes and a clear majority in the "Norwegian Storting"! SO finally when the time came to choose a Prime Minister - CAN YOU GUESS WHO GOT THE PREMIERSHIP??? The leader of The Christian Peoples Party - which had ONLY 5 % of the peoples votes - this also happende behind closed doors... And Norway is assumed the BEST place in the world to live -and one of the BEST functioning Democracies in the World...

And you think Kurdistani election and system is "un" democratic...?

[Binyamin]

Did the Norwegian parliament played any role in selecting the PM?

With the KDP and PUK package for Kurdistan Parliament there were no room for Democracy to play its role.

What do you think would happen if we had the chance to vote in a free open-election, where we were expected to cast vote for individual candidates and not party pack?

[Diri]

Nope... like I wrote in my message- They did the negoitiations behind closed doors... SO the PM was "elected" by the parties that had won.. they decided to give most of the posts to the party that had won ONLY 5 %... They have the ministers of Education,Family & Children, Enviroment AND the Prime Minister - Who by the way is a PRIEST - SO this makes Norway and Iran the only TWO countries in the world with Priests as Head of State!

Yes - I agree- I think the President should be voted for by the people through a direct vote... not through the parliament- EVEN though that ALSO would be a good idea...


I think the best thing to do is to do like they have done in the UK - If we copy their system we can NOT go wrong... They have a TWO party system... And that is what we have in South Kurdistan too - so why not have a Lower House (elected by the people) and an Upper House(a seat for each Clanleader (read. Axa/Shêx/Mîr in South Kurdistan)?
This way the people can MONITOR and TAKE PART in the system - In the UK most Parliament sessions are filmed! And there are seats for common people to sit and watch the sessions...

Besides this would make it easier to keep the system under the observation of a third party... someone impartial - a non-political organization...

There is another thing that could be done for the good of the Kurdish people - There should -like in all western countries - be room for lobbying and experts... The ministers won't and CAN'T have knowledge about EVERy single thing that exhists in Kurdistan SO - They need experts who can advise them and advocate the cases MUCh better than any minister...

Kurdistan is a treasure waiting to be opend - the oppurtunities are endless and the rescources are many in high numbers... We need only think twice before going unto action- and we need to consider the best for the Kurdistani peoples - not just go ahead with projects we don't know jack about... This is where experts come in.. they will be a good buffer for the ministers to base their plans on facts...

Take the waterdams that are being built - an expert would tell you that - this and that place IS a good place for a dam - and this and that place is NOT a good place for a dam - they would consider : How this would affect the enviroment, people, culture and society...


Well - don't wanna make it too long a post so I'll stop right about HERE!