PUK POLITBURO MEMBER DISCUSSES PARTY REFORM

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 BAGHDAD 002334

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/10/2017
TAGS: PGOV PINR IZ
SUBJECT: PUK POLITBURO MEMBER DISCUSSES PARTY REFORM

Classified By: Deputy Political Counselor Charles Blaha for reasons 1.4
(b) & (d)

This is a Regional Reconstruction Team (RRT) Cable.


1. (C) SUMMARY: A high-ranking member of the Patriotic
Union of Kurdistan (PUK) politburo said the PUK will undergo
further internal debate until its next general congress in
January 2008. He will head a new committee created to
strengthen popular participation and improve the provision of
basic services in Iraqi Kurdistan. The PUK will work to
reinforce its relations with the rival dominant party, the
Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) but the role of Islamic
parties in PUK politics must be carefully watched. The PUK
is undergoing a long process of reform that will take a
generation to complete. END SUMMARY.

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BACKGROUND
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2. (SBU) On June 17, RRTOff met with Mala Baxtiar in Dokan,
Sulaimaniyah Province. A member of the PUK for 37 years,
Baxtiar is one of three permanent members of the PUK
politburo. He is Chief of the PUK "Democratic Organization,"
an umbrella group which oversees 100 public outreach
initiatives in civic education, cultural affairs, and the
media. Baxtiar also heads the PUK Foreign Relations Office
which maintains 13 representative offices in Iraq and abroad.

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PUK GENERAL CONGRESS
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3. (C) Baxtiar told RRTOff that the next PUK General
Congress is scheduled for January 2008, and will include
consultation with foreign parties and discussions on internal
reorganization and reform measures, including reducing
considerably the number of PUK bureaus. The party will elect
a new politburo and a new Leadership Committee where for the
first time women (seven) will serve.


4. (SBU) In preparation for the Congress, Baxtiar said the
next six months will be filled with a host of PUK-sponsored
conferences, seminars, and meetings for PUK members and
business partners to discuss practical reforms for the PUK.
(Note: PUK has interests in private companies on a variety of
investment projects.)

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PUK-KDP ALLIANCE
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5. (C) Baxtiar told RRTOff the PUK and KDP are trying to
strengthen their alliance to promote regional unity. They
especially want to broaden public participation in the
political process and improve basic services for the low
socio-economic groups, he said. In line with these
principals, KDP and PUK General Secretaries Massoud Barzani
and Jalal Talabani, together with their respective politburo
members, decided on June 4 that Baxtiar will lead a new
regional-wide committee to develop a "strategic program for a
democratic organization." Baxtiar stressed the real
challenge is to formulate the program's practical steps and
to implement it.

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THE ROLE OF ISLAMIC PARTIES
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6. (C) When questioned by RRTOff on the role of Islamic
parties in PUK politics, Baxtiar replied there have been
times of cooperation with the Islamic parties as well as
armed conflict. In the current context, Islamic parties are
"dangerous" and "have to be watched." (Note: Baxtiar implied
the risk of moving from moderate Islam to radicalism.) The
PUK offers very little in the way of financing for Islamic
parties, he remarked and noted these groups receive
assistance from Iran and Saudi Arabia.


7. (C) Note: On a yearly basis, minority political parties
submit their budget to the KDP and PUK politburos. The
politburos decide the amount each party will receive. The
money comes from the budget the KRG receives from the Iraqi
central government, currently at 17 percent. Recently, KIU
sent a memorandum to the KRG requesting that each party's
budget be fixed according to the number of seats it holds in
parliament. End Note.


8. (C) Asked about the Cairo Conference in April that was
organized by neighboring countries, Baxtiar said the
participants, including the Iraqi Sunni groups such as the
Kurdistan Islamic Union (KIU),threatened the democratic

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process in Iraq. The participants declared a political front
that promotes ethnic and sectarian interests at the expense
of national unity, he stated. The PUK and KDP were against
what they perceive as foreign interference, he continued, and
required the KIU to pull out although KIU is a moderate
Islamic party, he said, it remains "dangerous." (Note:
Baxtiar sees Islam as a dangerous rallying point that can
counter loyalty to the PUK and to the Kurdistan region.)

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SEPARATION OF PARTY, GOVERNMENT, AND THE ECONOMY
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9. (C) Regarding PUK Deputy Secretary-General Barham Salih's
March 5 recommendation to separate the PUK party activity
from the government, Baxtiar said this kind of reform raises
a very difficult question that must be addressed over time,
with change introduced gradually. We are trying to transform
a culture, he said. (Note: The PUK directs economic
development through its control of the budget, contracting,
land development, and foreign investment rules.) As the
government and the economy become free from the party's
influence, Baxtiar hopes to see the development of a robust
free market with a larger role for the private sector.
Baxtiar's office also asked RRTOff for training opportunities
in governance, elections, party development, and the media.

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COMMENT
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10. (C) In preparation for the upcoming PUK General
Congress, Baxtiar is focused on enumerating reforms to
improve basic services to meet community needs. The PUK
reform process will involve opening up the economic system
that is burdened by a legacy of centralization and is
dominated by the same party who dominates the political
system. This will likely take a generation to complete.
Despite the PUK's claimed desire for reform, they offer few
details of how this would be accomplished.


11. (C) Baxtiar also sees the near future as an important
opportunity to strengthen the PUK's relationship with the KDP
to secure regional unity. There is, however, little evidence
he will foster political participation by minority parties.

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BIOGRAPHICAL NOTES
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12. (C) Mala Baxtiar's real name is Hikmat Muhamed Karim.
He is from Khanaqin in northern Diyala Province, bordering
Sulaimaniyah Province. At the age of 23, he became the
youngest ever member of the PUK Leadership Committee and has
been with the PUK for 37 years. He has spent most of his
life exiled in the mountains as a Peshmerga. Known for his
opposition to political Islam, Baxtiar said he has been the
target of assassination attempts. He told RRTOff that last
month, members of Alsar Al-Islam, which benefits from Iranian
support, tried to kill him using an unmanned arial vehicle.


13. (C) Baxtiar is a regular writer in PUK publications and
has published seven books on anti-extremism and
fundamentalism, post-modernism, democracy, and politics in
the Middle East in the post-Cold War era. The German
philosopher and sociologist Jurgen Habermas and French
sociologist Alain Touraine are among his preferred authors.
Baxtiar is also a leader in cultural and sports fields and
chairs the Sulaimaniyah Olympic Committee.
CROCKER