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. -------------- BACKGROUND -------------- ¶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. -------------- PUK GENERAL CONGRESS -------------- ¶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.) -------------- PUK-KDP ALLIANCE -------------- ¶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. -------------- THE ROLE OF ISLAMIC PARTIES -------------- ¶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 BAGHDAD 00002334 002 OF 002 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.) -------------- --- SEPARATION OF PARTY, GOVERNMENT, AND THE ECONOMY -------------- --- ¶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. -------------- COMMENT -------------- ¶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. -------------- BIOGRAPHICAL NOTES -------------- ¶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